College of Fine Arts and Design

September 1, 2011

Three UCO Department of Design faculty members were recently elected to serve two-year terms in positions of leadership for the AIGA, the professional association for design, on both the local and national levels.           

Ruki Ravikumar, MFA, chair of the UCO Department of Design, was elected chairperson of the national AIGA Design Educators Community Steering Committee as well as financial director for the AIGA Oklahoma Board.           

Amy Johnson, MFA, was elected Programming Director for the AIGA Oklahoma Board and Amanda Horton, MFA, was elected Communications Director for the AIGA Oklahoma Board.  

AIGA was founded in 1914 as the American Institute of Graphic Arts and is the oldest and largest professional membership organization for design.  Today it is simply known as "AIGA, the professional association for design," and has more than 22,000 members in 66 chapters worldwide.            

AIGA sets the national agenda for the role of design in economic, social, political, cultural and creative contexts and believes designers serve a critical role as communicators, educators and innovators.

This Oct., as a chairperson for the AIGA Design Educators Community Steering Committee, Ravikumar will conduct a roundtable discussion on forming a new AIGA research journal at the annual AIGA Design Conference in Phoenix, AZ.  This will be one of her many responsibilities as a chairperson.           

"I am happy to serve in a position of leadership for AIGA.  Being involved in AIGA means a great deal for Central - it means that we are affecting design on both local and national levels, which will open the door for exciting opportunities for our students," Ravikumar said.  

Central design students currently have the opportunity to join the UCO AIGA student group to help them get involved in the local design community.  In addition to Johnson's role as the Programming Director for the AIGA Oklahoma Board, she serves as the faculty advisor for the group.           

For more information about the UCO Department of Design please call (405) 974-5200 or visit www.uco.edu/cfad/academics/design.