Awarded for Teaching

I just won a university award for teaching, making me a Charles Deering McCormick Distinguished Clinical Professor at Northwestern University. Doesn't that sound fancy?! It's a huge honor and I'm still sort of amazed that this is now my work.

I never meant to be teaching. I say yes to an opportunity to teach human-centered design in China to support a friend I met in grad school, and the next thing you know, I'm offered a one-year teaching position at Northwestern University. That was six years ago, and I'm still at it.

I first had the opportunity to be part of the Segal Design Institute as a graduate student in a program led by Walter Herbst. Being part of this place was a game changer for me. The Ford Building became my playground. Folks like Nick Marchuk introduced me to 3D printing, gave me 24/7 access to his private office where the Makerbot was, and didn't fret a bit when he came in one morning to find filament spewed all over from an overnight build gone wrong.

I was welcomed in the machine shop by Joe Luciani, who taught me laser cutting and milling. Greg Holderfield created a studio culture in his classroom that I never ever wanted to leave. So when I was offered the chance to become part of the place, I thought why not? I found my own design education to be transformative, plus staying at Northwestern would mean continued access to all the cool tools. And it turns out, I love it.

My students are simply amazing. Together we create a studio where we remind ourselves that all of us are born to imagine and create and collaborate, and that THIS is what moves the world forward. And as a professor in a design context, I don't actually profess much of anything. I'm the creator of the context where we create the answers together. We prototype and engage with people and iterate and grow. It's awesome, and I'm so grateful to be doing this work.

My classroom methods are inspired by the pioneering work of Dr. Maria Montessori, a name now most associated with early childhood education. Yet despite this persistent perception, her work is as relevant to the university student as the preschooler. She saw learning as the natural state, and believed the job of an educator was to provide a rich learning environment, to encourage exploration, and to offer resources, so students can do what they came primed to do, which is to grow and learn– with hands and head and heart. These views inform everything I do, both in the classroom and out of it.

And I frequently get to co-teach with amazing partners, which helps a lot too. I'm grateful for my many teaching partners— from my very first DTC co-instructor Lisa Del Torto to my amazing Studio5 collaborator Brandon Williams to my partner this term— world renowned artist Michael Rakowitz— and everyone in between. This award is for all of us.

I closed my speech by expressing gratitude to my parents. Parents are our first teachers— and wow did I win the parent lottery! The bling of my shiny new medal is nothing compared to being the daughter of Dom & Cathie. They encouraged a sense of wonder. They honored my ambition. They never once admonished me to "be reasonable," which explains an awful lot. They instilled a massive sense of agency— leading me to understand that each of us matters and we ALL get to participate mightily in re-imagining and shaping the world.

I hope I instill that same spirit in all of you— as students, as fellow educators, as citizens of the world. Here's to continuing to imagine & create together for a long time yet to come!