Pasadena-based ArtCenter College of Design has chosen its provost – alumna and industrial designer Karen Hofmann – as its next president and chief executive, effective July 1.
Hofmann, 54, is the college’s sixth president and the first woman to hold the post in its 92-year history. She succeeds Lorne Buchman, who announced in March 2021 that he would retire; after July 1, he will hold the title of president emeritus.

ArtCenter College of Design was founded in Pasadena in 1930 as a school focused primarily on art and design education. After World War II, the school became a conduit for industrial and product designers, especially for the burgeoning auto industry.
Today, ArtCenter College offers its 2,000-plus students 11 undergraduate and 10 graduate degrees in a variety of art and design disciplines. It’s housed on two campuses: a main campus in the hills of northwestern Pasadena near the Rose Bowl and a newer campus near downtown Pasadena.

Under Buchman, who has held the president post since 2009, the college raised $124 million in its most recent fundraising campaign, exceeding the $100 million goal.
Hofmann graduated from ArtCenter College in 1997 with a bachelor of science degree in product design. Following a career in product design, automotive design, and consumer and design research, she returned to the college in 2002, first as an instructor, then, in 2010, as chair of the product design department.

Hofmann was named provost of ArtCenter College in 2018. Besides the traditional duties of the provost in overseeing the school’s academic priorities, she helped lead the college through significant cultural and operational changes, including increased online instruction triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In making the announcement, Su Hale, chair of the board of trustees, said the board “was impressed with Karen’s vision for balancing ArtCenter’s legacy with a commitment to redefining art and design education for our students and faculty, and the professional industries that employ our graduates.”

In a statement, Hofmann cited the unusual learning circumstances of the last couple of years wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“These are unprecedented times not only for ArtCenter students, faculty, staff and leadership but also for artists and designers,” she said. “Yet there are silver linings and incredible opportunities to reassess, rethink and rebuild meaningful academic experiences to empower the future generation of creatives who will shape our world.”

Among other things, Hofmann will oversee implementation of the college’s current master plan, which calls for expansion and renovation of an existing building on the main campus and a new 25,000-square-foot workshop space facility on the downtown campus.