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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Tony Bynum Takes the Helm at the Institute of Design’s Executive Academy

Corporate Leader Brings Work-Integrated Approach to Organizations

February 4, 2025

The Institute of Design (ID) has appointed Tony Bynum as Director of its Executive Academy.

ID’s Executive Academy strives to become the leading provider of B2B, work-integrated design training and development programs and champion the cross-pollination of design and business.

Part of the Illinois Institute of Technology, ID was founded by Bauhaus teacher László Moholy-Nagy in 1937 as The New Bauhaus. Almost 90 years later, its offering has evolved to develop the next generation of design-driven leadership through a unique, three-pronged model, which includes a Graduate School, Action Labs, and the Executive Academy.

The Academy’s B2B, work-integrated (WIL) approach offers design training and development at the team or organizational levels.

Bynum likens the approach to an organ transplant. “The lessons must be created in the context of the body itself,” he explains. “If they’re not, there’s a much higher chance the body will reject them.”

As someone who spent a decade and half in the Chicago business world—before and after he earned a design degree at ID—Tony Bynum is well-versed in translating design concepts into corporate ecosystems, including at a Fortune 500 company. In his previous role at Northwestern Mutual, Bynum created a Center of Excellence which saw design concepts applied from within to current company issues.

“
All of my career has been helping organizations de-risk change and establish pathways for growth and transformation. All our Academy instructors have substantial practical experience. They have seen how design does and doesn’t get adopted, and they know the implications for the organization.
—Tony Bynum, Director, ID Executive Academy

At ID, design is a strategic business tool that can help organizations seize opportunities, embrace change, and plan for the future amidst today’s rapid change and technological advancement.

“By using partner organizations’ challenges and initiatives as the background for learning, teams can apply their learning immediately. This translates to faster return for the organization,” Bynum explains.

“With the kind of breakneck advancements we’re seeing today, organizations need to work at speed and demonstrate their efficacy. At the same time, most organizations need new ways to understand and map out the needs, aspirations, and value exchanges between all stakeholders to create multi-generational value for their constituents,” says ID Dean Anijo Mathew.

“
We are thrilled to have Tony as the Academy’s Executive Director in this critical moment, as organizations are making game-changing decisions about what tomorrow looks like. His experiences integrating design learning into organizations will be critical to our partners’ future success.
—Anijo Mathew, Dean, Institute of Design

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