The Sir Misha Black Awards

The Sir Misha Black Awards commemorate the life of renowned architect, designer, and Professor Sir Misha Black, whose work played an important role in the development of design in Britain. They are given to individuals and institutions, to honour them in their role within design education.

There are two awards – the Sir Misha Black Medal for Distinguished Services to Design Education which is awarded to design educators from anywhere in the world, and the Sir Misha Black Award for Innovation in Design Education, which is given to UK-based educational institutions, organisations or individuals.

Established by five founding bodies, the Design and Industries Association, the Royal College of Art (RCA), the Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry (RDI) at the RSA, the Royal Academy of Engineering, and the College of Medallists. The awards are the only ones anywhere in the world that recognise design education.

The ceremony to present the Medal began life as a biennial event but has since become an annual date recognised within the design world calendar. Nominations for the awards are welcomed from anyone with knowledge and appreciation of the value of design education. Nomination forms can be found on the Sir Misha Black Awards website.[3]

The Sir Misha Black Medal

The Sir Misha Black Medal, first awarded in 1978, was created to honour individuals across the globe who, throughout their career, have made a significant contribution to design education. The Sir Misha Black Medal is awarded collaboratively by Britain’s leading design organisations. Recipients of The Sir Misha Black Medal are automatically enrolled in the College of Medallists.

The Sir Misha Black Award

The Sir Misha Black Award for Innovation in design education, first awarded in 2001, was created to honour the exceptional work of a teacher, team, department, or course within educational establishments in the UK for innovation in design education. The award exists to acknowledge the collective excellence and leadership in design education within the United Kingdom that has long been held in high regard internationally, but has received little formal recognition.

The Awards Committee

The committee comprises leading industry design educators and representatives of renowned associations. The current committee as of April 2014 includes:

Mary V. Mullin (Chairman) – The Design and Industries Association, Professor Sir Christopher Frayling – College of Medallists, Joe Kerr MSc – The Royal College of Art, Prof. Malcolm Garrett RDI, FISTD – The Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry, Professor James Randle RDI, FREng – The Royal Academy of Engineering

Recipients of the Sir Misha Black Medal

Recipients of The Sir Misha Black Award