News

New Professor of Design Culture

Published 14 December 2012

Guy Julier, Victoria and Albert Museum Principal Research Fellow in Contemporary Design has been made Professor of Design Culture.

The award followed a meeting of the university Professorial Board was announced by Professor Stuart Laing, the university's Deputy Vice-Chancellor, who said that it was "a well deserved recognition of his very significant national and international achievements and his key partnership role with the Victoria and Albert Museum."

The University of Brighton has a 15 year research partnership with the V&A. Since joining the University of Brighton in 2011, Professor Julier has set up a number of initiatives in the museum that foster debate about the role of design in society. He also sits on a government sponsored enquiry into the redesign of public services.

Professor Guy Julier

Prior to coming to the university, he was Professor of Design at Leeds Metropolitan University where he founded Design Leeds, a research and consultancy unit specializing in design for community and sustainability.

He has also been an Honorary Professor at the Glasgow School of Art and Visiting Fellow at the University of Otago, New Zealand. He will shortly be taking up a Visiting Professorship at the University of Southern Denmark. A fluent Spanish speaker, in the past year he has been an invited speaker in Colombia, Mexico and Spain.

Professor Julier is currently working on a third revised edition of his internationally acclaimed book The Culture of Design. Through this and his many other publications and initiatives, he has been influential in the establishment of Design Culture as a recognized academic discipline.

He said, "Design Culture involves the study of the complex, dynamic and pervasive role of design in contemporary society. I am delighted with the honour of this professorial award. It demonstrates the commitment of the University of Brighton to developing new fields of study, as well as to its very productive relationship with the V&A. Through international research projects and the museum, I will continue collaborating with the many talented colleagues and postgraduate students of the Faculty of Arts."