Provost Announcement: Peter Pfanner Appointed Executive Director of the UIC Innovation Center
I am pleased to announce the appointment of Peter Pfanner as Executive Director of the UIC Innovation Center, effective June 1, 2011, pending Board of Trustees approval. Peter Pfanner brings 25 years of experience as a manager of design and innovation at corporations, consultancies, and universities in Asia, Europe, and the U.S. He joins UIC from his most recent leadership role as Senior Director of Motorola Mobility Design Studio.
In his role at UIC, Pfanner will utilize his expertise in multiple fields including mobile communications, consumer electronics, medical devices, workspace tools, architecture and materials science to forward the research agenda and educational programs of the UIC Innovation Center.
The UIC Innovation Center is a collaboration space designed to bridge the interests of the academy with industry. The Center was established in 2008 with our founding partner, Motorola, and built from the recognized success of UIC's cross-college Interdisciplinary Product Development (IPD) program. Pfanner will serve as the Center's first Executive Director.
With Pfanner’s dedicated leadership we expect to continue the collaborative efforts of the colleges of Architecture and the Arts, Business Administration, and Engineering. We additionally plan to expand our connections to industry and to involve our colleagues in the health, natural and social sciences; with a goal to develop new programs and initiatives that take advantage of all that UIC has to offer.
Pfanner's work in product design has been awarded by CES, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Chicago Athenaeum (Good Design), International Design (I.D.), Businessweek and IDSA (IDEA), and published by Businessweek, Forbes, and Innovation. He is a member of American Society of Engineers, Design Management Institute, and Industrial Design Society of America. He holds 17 U.S. design and utility patents, as inventor, with more than 100 patents filed by his team at Motorola. With a background in education for innovation, Peter Pfanner has most recently taught at the IIT Institute of Design and in the UIC School of Art and Design.
Please join me in welcoming Peter Pfanner to the UIC community. I would also like to thank the search committee, chaired by Marcia Lausen, Director of the School of Art and Design, for their efforts in coordinating a successful search.
Sincerely,
Jerry Bauman
Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost