ArcD appoints design professor Amy Johnson as Assistant Dean of the School

LAWRENCE — After a national search, the University of Kansas School of Architecture & Design has appointed Amy Johnson as Assistant Dean of the School. In this role, Johnson will lead enrollment management, academic support services, and student experience initiatives.

Prior to joining KU, Johnson served as the Director of Teaching and Learning for the Lincoln School of Design in the United Kingdom, where she was part of a leadership team that oversees undergraduate programs in Fashion Design, Product Design, Illustration, Graphic Design, Photography, and Creative Advertising, as well as the MA in Design and MA in Creative Advertising. She was also active in enrollment management, recruitment, and academic programming.

Johnson holds a Master of Fine Arts in Studio Arts from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from Iowa State University. She began teaching at the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO), where she was a professor and served as Director of the School of Design. During her tenure, the School of Design added an MFA in Illustration and earned numerous achievements, including being named a top Design School by GDUSA magazine. She also actively expanded the school’s capabilities while increasing recruitment and retention.

Johnson has earned numerous accolades as a designer and educator. She has held fellowships with 99U and AIGA, presented at conferences across the world, and published work in the Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Design. She is currently a member of AIGA in New York City.

In recent years, the School has transformed student success infrastructure through the development of new digital resources and a larger academic advising staff. As assistant dean, Johnson will build on these efforts and engage with students to discover even more opportunities.

“I am delighted that Professor Amy Johnson has accepted our offer to join the school as the new Assistant Dean,” said Dean of the School of Architecture and Design Mahbub Rashid. “Given her experience and high level of talent, not only for design but academic enhancement as well, I know that she will be a wonderful colleague and a genuine asset to the School of Architecture & Design.”