The Sir Misha Black Awards, established in 1978, is a British award for design education, in memory of Misha Black. Two annual awards are conferred: The Sir Misha Black Medal for Distinguished Services to Design Education, awarded to individual design educators worldwide. The Sir Misha Black Award for Innovation in Design Education, granted to UK-based educational institutions, organisations, or individuals.
The awards were set up in 1977 by six bodies: the Design and Industries Association, Imperial College London, the Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry (R.D.I.) at the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), the Royal Academy of Engineering, the College of Medallists, and the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851.
Since 2020, the Sir Misha Black Awards has been included in the Royal Commission's portfolio, as part of the commission's aim to "increase the means of industrial education and extend the influence of science and art upon productive industry."
The Sir Misha Black Medal First awarded in 1978, the Sir Misha Black Medal recognises individuals worldwide who have made outstanding and lasting contributions to design education. The medal is conferred by a committee representing leading British design organisations, and each recipient is admitted to the College of Medallists.
The Sir Misha Black Award First presented in 1999, the Sir Misha Black Award for Innovation in Design Education recognises teachers, teams, departments, or courses within United Kingdom–based educational institutions that have demonstrated significant innovation in design education. The award specifically honours contributions that advance and transform the practice of design education in the UK.
Sir Misha Black Awards Committee The Sir Misha Black Awards Committee is composed of representatives from the founding bodies:
Royal Designers for Industry (RDI) Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) College of Medallists Imperial College London Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851.
Members include Malcolm Garrett (chairman) – RSA Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry, and Chris Wise, Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851.
Recipients of the Sir Misha Black Medal Year Name Country 1978 Sir William Coldstream UK 1980 Serge Ivan Chermayeff USA 1982 Max Bill Switzerland 1985 Ashoke Chatterjee India 1986 Frank Height UK 1988 Peter Reyner Banham UK 1991 David Pye UK 1993 Dr. Marianne Straub RDI Switzerland 1993 Arthur Pulos USA 1995 Kenji Ekuan Japan 1997 Dr. Alexander Moulton RDI UK 1998 William Walsh Ireland 1999 Ettore Sottsass Italy 2000 Robert Goodden UK 2001 Yuri Soloviev Russia 2002 Dr Santiago Calatrava Spain 2003 Sir Christopher Frayling UK 2004 David Hamilton (Honorary) UK 2004 Elaine Ostroff USA 2005 Prof. David Kelley USA 2006 Prof. Geoffrey Kirk RDI UK 2007 Alison Chitty RDI UK 2008 Prof. Gonzalo Tassier Mexico 2009 Judy Frater India/USA 2011 Prof. Kumar Vyas India 2012 Prof. Ezio Manzini Italy 2013 Prof. Santiago Aránguiz Sánchez Chile 2014 Prof. Michael Twyman UK 2015 Ravi Naidoo South Africa 2016 Margaret Calvert OBE RDI UK 2018 Prof. P John Clarkson UK 2020 Prof. Birgit Mager Germany 2021 Prof. Don Norman USA 2022 Prof. Elizabeth Tunstall Canada 2023 Prof. Marie Redmond Ireland 2024 Mary V Mullin (Honorary) Ireland 2024 Dr. Patricia Moore USA 2025 Lady Helen Hamlyn CBE UK 2025 Prof. William Ion Uk
Recipients of The Sir Misha Black Award Year Name1999Professor Norman McNally 2001 Prof. Roger Coleman and Dr Paul Ewing – Royal College of Art / Imperial College, London 2002 Prof. Ken Wallace – Cambridge University 2003 Prof. Adrian Forty 2004 Jane McCann – University of Derby 2006 Design Against Crime Research Centre – Central St Martins School of Art 2007 Department of Industrial Design – Coventry University School of Art & Design 2009 Prof. Anthony Dunne – Royal College of Art 2011 Creative Research into Sound Arts Practice (CRiSAP) – London College of Communication 2012 Manchester School of Art – Manchester Metropolitan University 2014 National Art&Design Saturday Club – The Sorrell Foundation 2015 Prof. Rachel Cooper OBE - Lancaster University 2016 Prof. Catherine McDermott 2016 Arts University Bournemouth 2018 University of Brighton Design Archives 2020 FixEd – Dee Halligan & Prof. Daniel Charny 2020 Oliver Broadbent2022 Judah Armani2023 Haleh Moravej – MetMUnch2024 Zowie Broach2025 Victoria Thornton OBE
References
External links Sir Misha Black Awards