Anijo Mathew has been appointed as the new dean of the Institute of Design (ID), effective December 1, 2022. He has served as ID’s interim dean since January 1, 2022, and replaces Denis Weil (MDes 2001), who led ID for five years.
Anijo teaching
Anijo served as Head of Department of Art and Design at the College of Architecture, Art and Design at the American University of Sharjah in the UAE from 2019–21. He has taught at Harvard University’s School of Business, the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and Illinois Tech’s Stuart School of Business. He led ID’s popular Global Immersion Program, co-developed ID’s prototyping curriculum, and has worked on strategic design projects around the globe.
As a researcher, he aims to understand how urban organizations can develop information platforms embedded in physical environments, as well as to evaluate how social connectivity and user behavior in such platforms affect the urban experience.
Beyond campus, he has been involved in interactive “placemaking” design projects in collaboration with the City of Chicago, the Chicago Loop Alliance, and the Chicago Architecture Center.
Anijo first joined ID in 2008. He holds a PhD in design computing from the Open University in the United Kingdom, a master in design studies from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, and a professional bachelor of architecture from Birla Institute of Technology Mesra in Ranchi, India.
The full university announcement is available here.