08/17/18

AMES, Iowa — Following an internal search, the Iowa State University College of Design has appointed Seda McKilligan to serve as its associate dean for academic programs, effective immediately.

McKilligan, an associate professor of industrial design, will oversee the college’s undergraduate and graduate academic programs, including international programs, interdisciplinary programs and the first-year Core Design Program.

She will also provide oversight for the Office of Student Services and Programs, including student recruitment and retention activities, career services and learning communities; and coordinate course scheduling, option studios and summer session.

McKilligan joined the Iowa State faculty as an assistant professor in 2010 and worked with the department chair to develop the curriculum and research agenda for the new Department of Industrial Design. She was promoted to associate professor in 2015. She is also an affiliated faculty member of the human computer interaction graduate program and serves as the site co-director of the National Science Foundation-funded Center for e-Design at Iowa State. She was a visiting professor at Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands, for the 2016-2017 academic year.

McKilligan teaches design studios and lecture courses on developing creativity and design thinking skills. Her current research focuses on identifying impacts of different factors on ideation of designers and engineers, developing instructional materials for design problem and solution spaces and exploring foundations of innovation, all funded by the NSF. She often collaborates across disciplines, working with scholars in engineering, education, industrial design and psychology.

McKilligan is the author of more than 75 book chapters, peer-reviewed journal articles and conference proceedings. She lectures and presents her work widely, conducts workshops on design thinking and frequently serves on review, advisory and scientific boards of various journals and conferences. She is the associate editor of the International Journal of Design Science.

Contacts

Luis Rico Gutierrez, Design Administration, (515) 294-7427, lrico@iastate.edu
Seda McKilligan, Design Administration, (515) 294-7427, seda@iastate.edu
Heather Sauer, Design Communications, (515) 294-9289, hsauer@iastate.edu

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