Karen Hofmann Will Be the First Woman President of ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California

ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California, has selected Karen Hofmann as its sixth president and chief executive. When she takes office on July 1, she will be the first woman to lead the college in its 92-year history.

ArtCenter College of design enrolls nearly 2,000 undergraduate students and just under 300 graduate students, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education. Women make up 57 percent of the undergraduate student body.

“These are unprecedented times not only for ArtCenter students, faculty, staff, and leadership but also for artists and designers,” Hofmann said. “Yet there are silver linings and incredible opportunities to reassess, rethink and rebuild meaningful academic experiences to empower the future generation of creatives who will shape our world. ArtCenter is the ideal institution to do that work, and I am profoundly honored to serve in this role and help the college do just that.”

Following a career in product design, automotive design, and consumer and design research, Hofmann joined the faculty at the college in 2002 first as an instructor, then chair of the product design department beginning in 2010. Hofmann was named provost of ArtCenter College of Design in 2018.

Hofmann graduated from ArtCenter College of Design in 1997 with a bachelor of science degree in product design. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from California State University, Northridge.