FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 9, 2017

IIDA RELEASES EDUCATORS ROUNDTABLE REPORT

CHICAGO — The International Interior Design Association (IIDA) today released its Educators Roundtable report, The State of Interior Design Education: Wellness. Well-Being. Diversity. Social Responsibility. The report summarizes the productive and thought-provoking discussion had during the 2nd annual Educators Roundtable, held in October 2017 and hosted by Milliken on its corporate campus in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The 20-page report covers the state of interior design education and young professionals; pivotal factors driving the profession; and how designers and educators can future-proof the profession by nurturing students at all levels.

“Earlier this year, IIDA and Milliken gathered a range of emerging and experienced professionals as well as educators from design programs around the country. The discussion, chronicled in the Educators Roundtable report, was insightful, inspiring, and optimistic,” said IIDA Executive Vice President and CEO Cheryl S. Durst, Hon. FIIDA, LEED AP, who moderated the discussion. “We are encouraged to see challenges reframed as opportunities for our industry to recruit fresh, diverse talent and better prepare them for the ever-evolving profession of design.”

Designer participants at the IIDA Educators Roundtable included: Josie Briggs, IIDA, LEED AP ID+C, principal interior designer, NBBJ; Wanda Coates-Flowers, lead interior designer, Army Corps of Engineers; 2017-2018 IIDA International Board of Directors President James Kerrigan, IIDA, LEED AP ID+C, design principal of interiors, Jacobs; and Shawn McLean, IIDA, owner, McLean Bergel Design.

Educator participants included: 2017-2018 IIDA International Board of Directors Vice President Annie Chu, IIDA, FAIA, NCIDQ, founding principal, Chu + Gooding Architects and professor of interior architecture, Woodbury University; Pamela K. Evans, Ph.D., IIDA, FIDEC, LEED AP, director, Interior Design, College of Architecture and Environmental Design, Kent State University; Christina Gonano, IIDA, RID,IDEC, professor of interior design, Savannah College of Art and Design; 2016 IIDA Diversity Award recipient Kijeong Jeon, IDEC, NCIDQ, professor, Interior Architecture Program, Department of Art and Art History, California State University Chico; IIDA Global Chair of Student Experience Primo Orpilla, FIIDA, principal and co-founder, Studio O+A and visiting professor, University of Texas at Austin; 2017 IIDA Educator of the Year Jon Otis, IIDA, founder and principal, Object Agency and professor, Pratt Institute; Doug Seidler, IIDA, chair, associate professor, Interior Design, Marymount University and 2017-2018 IDEC president; and Jack Travis, FAIA, NOMAC, adjunct professor of interior design, The School of Visual Arts, New York School of Interior Design, Pratt Institute, and the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Student representatives included the 2016 and 2017 IIDA Students of the Year Amy Leigh Hufford, Associate IIDA, interior designer, Nelson, and Lindzey Duval, Associate IIDA, interior design coordinator, HDR, respectively; and Genia Wright, Student IIDA, MPA, PMP, Pratt Institute and COO/CFO, Vera Institute of Justice. The roundtable also featured guest speaker Dana Pillai, president, Delos Labs and executive director, Well Living Lab.

The IIDA Educators Roundtable report is available online. For more information, please contact Aisha Williams at awilliams@iida.org.

About International Interior Design Association
The International Interior Design Association (IIDA) is the Commercial Interior Design Association with global reach. We support design professionals, industry affiliates, educators, students, firms and their clients through our network of 15,000+ members across 58 countries. We advocate for advancements in education, design excellence, legislation, leadership, accreditation, and community outreach to increase the value and understanding of Interior Design as a profession that enhances business value and positively impacts the health and well-being of people’s lives every day. www.iida.org

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About Milliken
For 150 years, Milliken has been innovating with the purpose to explore, discover and create ways to enhance people’s lives. Our community of innovators has developed one of the larger collections of United States patents held by a private U.S. company. With expertise across a breadth of disciplines, including specialty chemical, floor covering and performance materials, we work around the world every day to add true value to people’s lives, improve health and safety, and help make this world more sustainable. For more information, visit www.milliken.com and join us on Facebook and Twitter.