Name: Nate Swinehart
Graduattion Year: 2005
Major: Theater Arts
Minor: Japanese

I arrived at Miami University from Columbus, Ohio with a love for storytelling and art. Majoring in Theater with a focus on lighting design, I wanted to use my time at school to pursue as many different avenues as I could fit in my schedule. In search of a new language, I found myself drawn to the artistry of the characters and a completely unknown culture of Japan. I was completely taken with the subject, not just the language but also the rich literature and cinematic courses the department offered, and soon had worked my way towards a minor in Japanese.

Upon graduation, Professor Reider suggested I pursue teaching English in Japan. I spent two years teaching middle and high school English classes in Suzuka, Japan, This proved to be an instrumental and influential period of time that shaped my life moving forward. My time in Japan saw my interest in art evolve away from theater and towards developing a passion for creating comics and animation. 

Upon return to the US, I pursued a Master's Degree in animation. After 5 years working at the animation studio JibJab in Los Angeles I was approached to join the Doodle Team at Google where I help create the art, animation and games that appear on the search engine’s logo to celebrate holidays & cultural heroes.

In 2021 I had the honor of being Creative Lead for the Tokyo Olympics Google Doodle, creating a series of games celebrating Japan’s rich heritage, folklore and culture and working directly with the renowned Japanese animation studio Studio 4C. My time at Miami’s Japanese program and the mentorship I received from the faculty there helped pave the way for this project to become the largest Doodle experience our team has ever made.

I currently live in San Francisco, California and enjoy plein air painting, playing and making games, traveling abroad and playing piano."