The Innovation School looks forward to welcoming two new Honorary Professors as we commence the 2020/21 academic year. Dr Steven MacGregor and Professor Ilpo Koskinen will support the School’s faculty as it seeks to deliver outstanding teaching to the next generation of designers. Professor Koskinen is a pioneer in the field of social design and Dr MacGregor has published influential books on designing better workplaces. Together, they bring decades of knowledge and experience that will be invaluable to both the academic staff and students. We can’t wait to work alongside and learn from them over the coming months.
Dr Steven MacGregor
The Innovation School is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Steven MacGregor as Honorary Professor ahead of the commencement of the 2020/21 academic year. Dr MacGregor’s experience of collaborating with organisations to improve the health, well-being and performance of people at work makes him the ideal candidate to support the Innovation School’s groundbreaking research at the intersection of education and healthcare.
Dr MacGregor is an internationally recognised expert in the area of health and well-being, with a focus on elevating well-being as a strategic concern within the workplace. He is the founder of the Leadership Academy of Barcelona (LAB), which helps global clients including Telefónica, McKinsey and Santander develop healthier, more human-focused workplaces. The LAB team provides research and consultancy services to organisations at a leadership level, facilitating decisions that improve experiences for both employees and clients. Its practice is based on two recent books by Dr MacGregor; Sustaining Executive Performance (2015) and Chief Wellbeing Officer (2018).
In his role as Honorary Professor, Dr MacGregor will advise the Innovation School as it looks to develop new B.Des and Integrated Masters programmes focused on health and well-being. In addition, he will help Innovation School faculty negotiate with international healthcare partners to identify potential “live projects”. He will also assist in expanding the existing research capacity of our Digital Health & Care Institute(DHI). His insights will support research and academic projects focused on innovation in the workplace, which will be highly valued as we begin to shape the post-Covid world.
In a statement supporting the appointment, Gordon Hush, Head of the Innovation School said: “DrMacGregor’s significant experience with large-scale organisations, from Coca Cola and Nestle to Russian Railways and Santander, aligns with GSA and the Innovation School’s desire to work collaboratively with the NHS to theorise systemic and institutional change in working patterns and behaviours in the field of health, care and well-being. We are are keen to work with Dr MacGregor to explore a ‘systems of care’ approach, which addresses the experience of the individual and the process of organisational change and evolution.”
Speaking about this appointment, Dr MacGregor said: “I left Scotland for Spain in 2003, butScotland never left me. My family are still based in Motherwell and I’m truly humbled to receive this new post at one of Scotland’s premier institutions. The area of design and well-being offers tremendous potential for the challenges we all face today, and I’m excited to play my part in using well-being to create a healthier and fairer society.”
Professor Ilpo Koskinen
TheInnovation School is pleased to announce the appointment of Ilpo Koskinen asHonorary Professor ahead of the commencement of the 2020/21 academic year. Prof Koskinen is a globally acknowledged expert in the relationship between social sciences, design research and emergent technologies. A thought leader in the field of social design, he will support the Innovation School as it further explores this emerging field and its associated research practices.
Originally from Finland, Prof Koskinen has held a Professorship in Europe, Asia and Australia. He has published regularly and globally on the subject of social design and edited a special edition of the International Journal of Design dedicated to its evolution as a distinct area of design research and practice.His publications include Empathic Design: user-experience for product design(2003); an ethnomethodological examination of how people communicate using multimedia devices in Mobile Multimedia in Action (2007),and the definitive account of constructive design research in DesignResearch Through Practice: From Lab, Field and Showroom (2011). These books feature on the reading list at design institutions worldwide.
In his role as Honorary Professor, Koskinen will deliver a series of Masterclass lectures and workshops, participate in formative reviews for students, and work with Innovation School staff to raise academic standards. In addition, he will contribute to our future Research Excellence Framework strategy, as well as supporting the development of Early Career Researchers and PostgraduateResearch (PGR) students.
Prof Koskinen is already known to many of the Innovation School’s academics and faculty as he has previously contributed to the annual Winter School held at the Highlands and Islands campus in Forres. Academics and students spoke enthusiastically about his lectures on social design and innovation practice.
In a statement supporting the appointment, Gordon Hush, Head of the InnovationSchool said: “Professor Koskinen’s encyclopaedic knowledge of design research, theory, method and practice will prove invaluable to the evolution of the research culture in the Innovation School.”
Ilpo Koskinen said: “I am delighted to become an Honorary Professor of the Glasgow School of Art. My history with the school goes back almost two decades. I respect GSA as a truly forward-looking institution that always manages to maintain its legacy. It is one of the global front runners in finding new ways to turn design into a force that improves society through products and services, but also through social institutions. My hope is that, through the honorary position, I can contribute to this work in ways GSA can be proud of.”