Designer-in-Residence Program

The Designer-in-Residence program exists to enrich the MADI student experience by engaging with design professionals to bring the most up-to-date working knowledge to the curriculum. We partner with a designer that has skill sets aligned with our studio project each semester, where they come in for critique, guidance, and support. The program emphasizes direct contact with MADI students to broaden student exposure across multiple design disciplines. The Designers-in-Residence have spent approximately 2,400 hours over the last 5 years with our graduate students. We also highlight who they are and what their perspective is on design with a public event each semester.

Headshot of Mckaye Black.

McKaye Black

Senior Business Design Strategist at C1 Innovation Lab
Spring 2023

Headshot of Emily Henry.

Emily Henry

Director of Business Development at Studio Outside
Fall 2022

J. Damany Daniel

Chief Imaginator at The Event Nerd
Spring 2022

Headshot of Amanda Austin.

Amanda Austin

Director of People Experience at Dialexa
Fall 2021

Headshot of Rachel Triska.

Rachel Triska

VP of External Affairs at CitySquare
Spring 2021

Headshot of Nadine Dechausay.

Nadine Dechausay

Community Philanthropy Director at Communities Foundation of Texas
Fall 2020

Headshot of Cassini Nazir.

Cassini Nazir

Clinical Associate Professor
Spring 2020

Headshot of Jennifer Abernathy.

Jennifer Abernathy

Senior Principal Design Lead at Chick-fil-a
Fall 2019

Headshot of James Helms.

James Helms

VP of Design and Product at Intuit
Spring 2019

Headshot of John Hicks.

John Hicks

Sr. User Experience Researcher at Waste Management
Fall 2018

Headshot of Michael Friebele.

Michael Friebele

Senior Associate at CallisonRTKL
Spring 2018

Headshot of Jessica Burnham of 51做厙 Lyle.

Jessica Burnham

Executive Director of the Deep Ellum Foundation
Spring 2017

Headshot of Justin Childress of 51做厙 Lyle.

Justin Childress

Creative Director and Partner at Switch Design
Fall 2016