Zack Tucker, an assistant professor of communication design, was recently selected to be a member on the Design Educators Community (DEC) Steering Committee for the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), the nation’s premier professional organization for design.

Tucker’s three-year term began in May this year in which he will work with a committee of 15

dedicated design educators who represent diverse institutions and geographic regions across the nation to facilitate communication among design educators, create, foster and promote the AIGA publication “Dialogue”, produce design education events, present current research and teaching methods, establish standards for design education, differentiate between design’s various sub-disciplines, raise the level of design-driven thinking in schools across the country, and communicate the value of design education to the larger profession.

Specifically, Tucker will work on a growing initiative that connects design scholars and practitioners through research and radical hospitality. He will present this initiative at the AIGA National Design Conference in New York City this October with colleagues from the University of Illinois and the City University of New York.

“I am looking forward to inviting students into this new role, connecting them with opportunities for academic research and professional engagement,” Tucker said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to serve and thankful for the support I've received at Miami that has enabled me to take on this position.”