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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Terry Mazany

Chief Collaboration Officer, Collaboratory

Terry Mazany, Institute of Design Board Member

Terry Mazany has enjoyed careers in archaeology, public education, and philanthropy. Constant throughout these roles is his commitment to increasing opportunities for all.

He currently serves as Chief Collaboration Officer for Collaboratory. For the past twenty years he has served in leadership roles with community foundations, including Senior Vice President of Philanthropy for the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta and a distinguished career of 13 years as President and CEO of The Chicago Community Trust. During his years in Chicago, he also served briefly as the interim chief executive officer of Chicago Public Schools, serving 400,000 students.

In recognition of the 100th anniversary of the first community foundation, Terry and his colleague, David Perry, co-edited Here for Good: Community Foundations and the Challenges of the 21st Century.

Terry serves on several nonprofit boards, including Smithsonian Science Education Center, Independent Sector, and RFK Human Rights. Previously, Terry served as a member of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and was past chairman of the National Assessment Governing Board that oversees the National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP). His professional roles include teaching Education Policy and School Reform at the University of Chicago and Social Entrepreneurship at both Northwestern University and the Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Terry has graduate degrees in Anthropology, Business, and Education. He is a member of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce (RSA). He has received Honorary Doctorate degrees from DePaul University, Governors State University, and Lewis University.