September 01, 2023

ArtCenter College of Design Announces New Leaders in Transportation Design to Educate the Next Generation of Mobility Visionaries

Today, ArtCenter College of Design Provost Anne Burdick announced Marek Djordjevic as the new chair of Transportation Design beginning in the Fall 2023 semester.

Djordjevic will be joined by Alan Macey, who will serve as associate chair of the Transportation Design Bachelor of Science degree, and Richard Pelletier, who will serve as associate chair of the Transportation Systems and Design Master of Science degree.

“Our students will greatly benefit from the expertise, years of experience, and faculty perspective of these accomplished leaders as they shape our academic programming for the future of transportation and mobility in the coming years and plan for next year’s opening of the Mullin Transportation Design Center,” said Karen Hofmann, president and chief executive officer at ArtCenter College of Design. “I’m grateful to Stewart Reed, Jay Sanders and Geoff Wardle who provided leadership to Transportation Design for so many years and during this time of transition.”

ArtCenter is currently implementing a major academic realignment to create a more sustainable educational model that includes selecting academic leadership from amongst our highly accomplished faculty. The new chairs will join our other new inaugural rotating chairs to provide a leadership team to oversee the department. All three chairs will report to Babette Strousse, dean of Industrial Design at the College.

“I’m elated that Marek will lead our influential Transportation Design department, working as a tight-knit team with Alan and Richard to shape the department and its offerings for our new future-forward realigned landscape,” said Strousse.

“Over the past 75 years, ArtCenter’s Transportation Design department has established itself as internationally renowned and at the very pinnacle of education, producing exceptional designers who are making unparalleled contributions to the field. It is a humbling honor to leverage this tremendous legacy as we move forward together to build and grow our undergraduate and graduate programs,” said Djordjevic. “I’m thrilled to be part of this new chapter in the history of ArtCenter.”

Djordjevic brings to the role nearly two decades of teaching, commitment to excellence, passion for developing the boundless potential of our students, and dedication to fostering strong relationships with educational and industry partners.

“I am deeply committed to a vision of ArtCenter’s Transportation Design department focused on cultivating an empowered educational experience and guiding our program offerings to align seamlessly with the new generations of student talent and evolving mobility and transportation needs,” added Djordjevic.

Born in Belgrade, Serbia, Djordjevic graduated from ArtCenter and embarked on a 15-year career at BMW Group, working on designs for BMW, Mini, MG, Land Rover and Rolls-Royce. Notably, he shaped the Rolls-Royce Phantom sedan, drophead and coupe models and the experimental, centenary one-off, Rolls-Royce 100EX. He worked alongside Rolls-Royce directors to determine the marque’s future direction, product planning and communications.

In 2005, after leaving positions as chief of exterior design at Rolls-Royce and creative director at BMW Designworks, he founded Marek Djordjevic Inc., a design consultancy that continues to provide creative services to a wide range of clients, from automotive startups to global industrial conglomerates, leveraging his brand, concept and design expertise.

As an ArtCenter professor, Djordjevic has nurtured student talent for more than 19 years and engages with industry through workshops, lectures and expert panels, striving to inspire and challenge the automotive field.

Alan Macey, who will be the associate chair leading the Bachelor of Science in Transportation Design, is co-founder and creative director of the automotive design and brand consultancy Curb Industries. Since 2018, he has found fulfillment as an educator at ArtCenter. Macey is an ArtCenter alumnus whose career as a designer influenced a diverse range of brands and design studios, including Arrival, BMW, Bugatti, Dodge, Fiat, Ford, Jeep and Yamaha. Throughout his career, he has applied a principled approach to automotive design in advanced concepts, production, motorsports and brand strategy programs. His passion for transportation design is driven by the opportunity to create meaningful products that not only impact the way people live and move around in the world but in how they connect with their products emotionally.

In his role as associate chair for the Master of Science in Transportation Systems and Design, Richard Pelletier will build on his past role as senior faculty for that degree. He concurrently holds the position of Head of Design at Xtelligent.io, a mobility venture emphasizing public benefit. Before his time as an ArtCenter Transportation Design student, he worked in furniture design and gained recognition for his contributions to multiple award-winning formula racing cars. In his 30-year career, Pelletier has built and led teams, yielding 200+ patents, and earned accolades in interaction and user experience design. Notably, he has co-created visionary concepts for entities including BMW, MINI, Rolls Royce, Ford, Lincoln Motor Companies, Magellan, Scania Trucks, BART, LA Metro, IdeaLab(AiPod) and Waymo. Since joining ArtCenter's faculty, Pelletier is dedicated to an ambitious goal: revolutionizing mobility systems to counteract climate change's root causes and adverse impacts.

About ArtCenter: Founded in 1930 and located in Pasadena, California, ArtCenter College of Design is a global leader in art and design education. ArtCenter offers 11 undergraduate and 10 graduate degrees in a wide variety of art and design disciplines. In addition to its top-ranked academic programs, the College also serves the general public through a highly regarded series of year-round online and on campus extension programs for all levels of experience. Renowned for both its ties to industry and its social impact initiatives, ArtCenter is the first design school to receive the United Nations’ Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) status. Throughout the College’s long and storied history, ArtCenter alumni have had a profound impact on popular culture, the way we live and important issues in our society.

Contact:
Teri Bond
Media Relations Director
ArtCenter College of Design
teri.bond@artcenter.edu
310 738-2077 cell
626 396-2385 office