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Welcome our two new trustees



I am thrilled to announce that Stuart Bohart of Morgan Stanley and Marissa Mayer of Google and have joined Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum’s board of trustees. Bohart, managing director, investment management at Morgan Stanley, has been with the global financial services firm for more than 10 years. Mayer joined Google in 1999 as its first female engineer and 20th employee, and functions as the principle designer of Google’s look and feel. The museum’s board of trustees, a group of 33 individuals led by Chairman Paul Herzan and President James Rosenthal, is comprised of a distinguished roster of leaders from top American design companies, including GE, Nike, P & G and Target.

Bohart joined Morgan Stanley as a portfolio manager in the investment management business, where he co-managed a global multi-strategy equity fund, and went on to become head of International Prime Brokerage in 2003 and global head in Prime Brokerage in 2005. In 2006, he was appointed head of alternative investments and he became head of investment management in 2008. Bohart, a graduate of Northwestern University with dual degrees in economics and Asian studies, serves on the board of the Smithsonian African Art Museum and on the board of governors for the Investment Company Institute. He lives on the Upper West Side with his family.

Mayer leads Google’s product management and design efforts for search products, including web search, images, news, books, products, maps, Google Earth, and more. Her efforts have included designing and developing Google’s search interface, and launching hundreds of features and products on Google.com. The company’s design efforts, under Mayer’s leadership, were recognized with the 2008 National Design Award for Corporate Achievement, which acknowledges a corporation’s use of design as a strategic tool in its mission and exhibits ingenuity and insight in helping to advance the relationship between design and quality of life. She received her bachelor of science degree in symbolic systems and her master’s degree in computer science from Stanford University, specializing in artificial intelligence for both degrees. Mayer is a trustee of SF MoMA and the San Francisco Ballet, and currently resides in San Francisco, Calif.

July 24: Design in D.C.

Plans are taking shape for the July 24th public programs in Washington, D.C., celebrating the 10th annual National Design Awards. These events will take place from 10 to 11 a.m. at museums around the Mall. First Lady Michelle Obama will host the White House ceremony for the winners and finalists later in the day.

Each designer has been paired with another designer from a different field, which will result in some great cross discipline conversations – fashion and interior design, technology and sustainability, product design and media.

• Join Francisco Costa (Fashion Design Winner) and Calvin Tsao and Zack McKown (Interior Design Winners) at the Corcoran College of Art & Design as they discuss the role of materials in their work and also share their visions, projects and inspirations.

• In the National Building Museum, you can find Christopher Sharples, Coren Sharples and Gregg Pasquarelli of SHoP Architects (Architecture Design winner) and Walter Hood (Landscape Design winner) discussing how design can be used as a tool to create a sense of community.

• Don’t miss the Boym Partners (Product Design winner) and Steve Duenes of The New York Times Graphics Department (Communication Design winner) at the Smithsonian Castle, where they will discuss the relationship between current events and their diverse design process.

• Jeff Han of Perceptive Pixel Inc. (Interaction Design winner) and Andrew Blauvelt of Walker Art Center (Corporate and Institutional Achievement winner) will be at the Hirshhorn Museum discussing the future of interaction design.

• Finally, at the National Museum of the American Indian, Amory Lovins (Design Mind winner) and Bill Moggridge (Lifetime Achievement winner) will discuss the relationship between technology and sustainability and the impact both will have on the future.

All the programs are free and open to the public so if you’re in the D.C. area, we hope you will take advantage of this great moment in design! Learn more about attending these programs.

Cooper-Hewitt's New Acting Director

As you may know, Paul Warwick Thompson, the Museum’s director of eight years, has resigned to accept the position of rector of the Royal College of Art in London. Starting July 13th, I will serve as acting director of the museum while a ten-member committee, of which I am a part, searches for a permanent director.

I would like to thank Paul for his dedication to Cooper-Hewitt. It was his vision and leadership that resulted in the current RE:DESIGN project, the most ambitious in the Museum’s history, which will culminate in a dramatic reconfiguration of Cooper-Hewitt and a major increase in its endowment. Phase one of the RE:DESIGN has begun with the renovation of the Miller/Fox townhouses. The Museum and Arthur Ross Terrace and Garden remain open—pardon the trailers—with a great roster of programs and exhibitions, including Cocktails@Cooper-Hewitt, starting July 10th, along with Fashioning Felt and Design for a Living World.

During my tenure at Cooper-Hewitt, I have served as director of development, director of external affairs, and deputy director, and had the good fortune of meeting many of you at various programs throughout the years. I hope to see you at the Museum soon, and look forward to sharing news and updates with you over the summer. In the meantime, feel free to contact me with any comments or suggestions about Cooper-Hewitt.

Caroline Baumann
Acting Director

Social Changemakers


Join in a Twitter-based Social Entrepreneurship Chat organized by Ashoka. The real time discussions on social entrepreneurship issues take place the 1st Wed of the month, 4-6PM US Eastern Time. The next conversation on Wed, July 1, focuses on mobile innovation.

Ashoka is now partnering with the Lemelson Foundation on a new initiative to support social innovators. The initiative AshokaTech now has over 70 fellows, individuals who are effectively aligning social entrepreneurship with technology.

On the Nicaraguan coast AshokaTech Fellow Mathias Craig is working with a local rural community to develop a hybrid wind/solar energy system. The aim is to create new industries resulting in local jobs and increased economic activity for a depressed area while providing basic energy needs.

Godisa’s SolarAid solar hearing aid battery recharger is expanding to other countries beyond Botswana. Transferring what he learned from this successful product AshokaTech Fellow Howard Weinstein is working with other underserved and disabled communities around the world.

In India Village Information Kiosks provide wireless internet access in remote areas. Fellow Amol Goje has developed low cost computer, video-conferencing facilities to help farmers to increase productivity, stimulate growth and educate the next generation. Using interactive communication technologies Amol looks to increase economic capacity beyond the cities; increasingly important as our urban centers grow at unprecedented rates.

Celebrate Design in D.C.


Friday, July 24th promises to be an exciting day for design fans in Washington, DC and across the country. First Lady Michelle Obama will join us in celebrating the National Design Awards with five simultaneous Public Programs followed by a White House Ceremony for the honorees. This is the 10th annual National Design Awards and we are very excited to bring several of this year’s honorees to Washington, DC to speak at free events taking place at five different museums around The Mall. The program will feature an incredible group of designers and design thinkers in conversation about the current state of design.

You can find a complete list of speakers and more information on our website. If you can’t make it to any of these events, please check back on our website for videos of these programs and more about National Design Week!