In 2026, after nearly 90 years, the Institute of Design was folded into Illinois Tech's School of Design & Society.
This website is an archive of the impactful and inspirational work produced by the ID community before that transition.

László Moholy-Nagy opened the New Bauhaus in Chicago in 1937, treating design as a discipline that was teachable, testable, and consequential. Nine decades on, its scope had widened from the things people use to the systems they depend on: hospitals, government agencies, classrooms, supply chains, digital platforms. Along the way, ID community members developed the published research, methods, and frameworks that designers rely on every day.

Chief among them is human-centered design: close attention to how people actually live, and advocacy for what that research reveals. It shaped designers who are comfortable with complexity and ambiguity: curious, rigorous, inclusive, and stubbornly optimistic about design's ability to change the systems that shape our lives.

To every one of them, who taught, studied, built, critiqued, and stayed late in the studio: thank you, and keep designing.

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Faculty

Anijo Mathew Appointed Dean of the Institute of Design (ID)

Served as Interim Dean since January 1, 2022

December 5, 2022

Anijo Mathew

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.

“
I am thrilled to be working with the incredible ID community to lead this institution into its next era. Since our founding as The New Bauhaus, ID has established a pioneering legacy in experimentation, systems design, human-centered design, and beyond. But what's to come is even more exciting. So far, our 85th year has marked the launch of our Action Labs and executive Academy—and we are just getting started.
—Anijo Mathew, Dean, Institute of Design
Anijo teaching

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.

“
I have no doubt that Anijo will continue to be a strong and essential leader at the Institute of Design as it charts its next phase of prominence and impact. His talent for outreach and collaboration, mingled with his innate creativity and entrepreneurial spirit, will serve both ID and our campus well.
—Kenneth T. Christensen, Interim Provost, Illinois Tech

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.