Robin Vande Zande
Biography
Dr. Robin Vande Zande is professor of art education at Kent State University. Her research and publications have focused on design education for PreK-12 grade students. Currently, she has broadened her research to the future of education worldwide and the central role that Visual Arts Educators may take. She has published 2 books, was co-editor of the 4 volume Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference for Design Education Researchers, and has over 20 other articles and book chapters. Her publications have been widely cited in the U.S., Turkey, China, Australia, France, Portugal, and Canada. Robin has been a keynote or featured speaker for over 30 national or state events, has presented over 55 juried papers and has been an education committee member for the National Building Museum, Washington, DC; for the Fallingwater Museum, PA; and a consultant for the Wescott House in Springfield, OH.
Her book, Design Education: Creating Thinkers to Improve the World (2016), is a resource on teaching design to PreK-12 students. Her co-authored book entitled Fashion Fundamentals (2020) is a guide to teaching fashion design to secondary and associate degree students.
Robin has chaired or co-chaired national and international conferences. She was co-chair of the National Art Education Association’s 75th anniversary convention in New York City, 2022. She chaired the International Symposium Re-Designing Education to Shape a Better World in Florence, Italy, with 40 chosen delegates from 13 countries, 2019. She was chair of the International Conference, LearnXDesign2015, hosted by the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois. Thirty-six countries and 120 institutions were represented.
She is currently a member of the National Art Education Association (NAEA) Research Commission, Co-Chair of the NAEA Design Issues Group, and a NAEA Distinguished Fellow. Robin is co-founder/trustee of DESIGN-ED, with the mission to develop support for design education at national/state levels.
Robin was a consultant and speaker for a design education research project at the Universidad del Bio-Bio, invited by Gabriel Hernández Martrou, in, Chile (2019). She also was a consultant to lead the South Carolina writing team to develop the first stand-alone design standards in the country, 2015.
She has been honored with national awards that include: the Lowenfeld Award for national/international recognition, National Distinguished Fellow for NAEA (2018), National Higher Educator of Art Education award (2018), the Western region (19 states and Canada) Higher Educator of Art Education award (2018), and Design Educator of the year by the Design Issues Group (2014). In Ohio, she was awarded Higher Educator of the year by the Ohio Art Education Association (2017) and Northeastern region Higher Educator (2017). Kent State has honored her with a Distinguished Teaching award (2017) and the Kent State President’s Faculty Excellence award (2018).
Robin was selected as a Fulbright Specialist, 2019-2023. Robin currently serves on the Faculty Senate at Kent State University, on the Re-envisioning the Kent Core strategic planning committee, and the university assessment committee, among others.
Expertise
Design Thinking
design principles and practices
prek-12 design education