Carnegie Mellon’s School of Design has appointed graphic designer Ben Fry as the Nierenberg Chair of Design for the 2006-2007 academic year. Widely regarded as the one of most prestigious appointments in design education in the U.S., the School of Design’s Nierenberg Chair of Design is a visiting professorship that was established through the generosity of Carnegie Mellon alumnus and Emeritus Life Trustee Theodore D. Nierenberg.


Ben Fry, 2006 - 2007 Nierenberg Chair, Carnegie Mellon School of Design

A Carnegie Mellon alumnus (B.F.A., 1997), Fry received his undergraduate degree in graphic design from the School of Design with a minor in computer science. In 2004, he went on to earn his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Media Laboratory, where he was a member of the Aesthetics and Computation group.

Much of Fry’s research and design work focuses on creating methods of visualizing large amounts of data from dynamic information sources. Currently, he is involved in the design of “Genomic Cartography” at MIT, researching new ways of representing data found in the human genome using isometric blocks. This type of study employs both graphic and scientific design elements.



Fry hopes to share his work on these complex collections of information with students at Carnegie Mellon during his visiting professorship. “I'd like to help the students learn to think more deeply about complex information design problems, and increase their abilities to address such problems,” said Fry.



“For the type of work that I do, one of the most common questions that I get is: how do I do this? And where can I find other people that can do this type of work? Addressing the first part is a personal goal, that I'm always trying to learn how to explain it better. If I'm successful in that, then I'll have a better answer to the second part because there will be more students exposed to this kind of thinking.”

Theodore D. Nierenberg, a founder of Dansk International Designs, has played an important role in the development and promotion of design in the world through his contributions to the university.

The goal in establishing the Nierenberg Chair of Design was to enhance the vitality of the School of Design for students and faculty by encouraging dialogue on important issues of the field, encouraging the exploration of contemporary forms of design practice, and promoting research that will affect future practice and understanding. Particular objectives are established for each appointment that supports this broad goal, identifying specific benefits to the School of Design and to the individual holding the Nierenberg Professorship.

Nominees for the Chair are identified by the faculty and individuals are selected to meet the needs of the School at the current stage of its development. In turn, it is important to the School that the individual selected for appointment also consider how his or her appointment may contribute to personal growth or to the advance of a personal vision of design and design practice. In short, appointment to the Nierenberg Chair offers the opportunity for mutual benefit.

The Nierenberg Chair affords its recipient an opportunity to influence and advance the practice and understanding of design in a variety of ways extending beyond Carnegie Mellon. The 2005 – 2006 Nierenberg Chair was Dutch designer Kees Overbeeke. Previous holders of the Nierenberg Chair include David Gresham, Ron Kemnitzer, Marc Rettig, Patrick Jordan Hiebert, Ken Schory, Shelley Evenson, Dennis Doordan, Patricia Moore, Tony Golsby-Smith, David Smith, and Richard Buchanan.

“The opportunity to work with talented students like those in Carnegie Mellon’s School of Design made me accept this position. Because of the reputation of its design and engineering programs, I think it's an amazing place where these fields can be mixed, and while it's not something that happens naturally, all the pieces are in place for it,” said Fry.



Says Dan Boyarski, Head of the School of Design, “We look forward to Ben's presence in the School of Design as he brings his expertise in computational information design to our students. Ben represents a new breed of designer, one who is adept at mapping complex information with visual and computational means. It's going to be an exciting year!”

Posted on Aug 28, 2006