The Design Program within the Corcoran School of the Arts & Design at the George Washington University invites applications for the Wernick-Richman Visiting Professor. The one-year, full-time position—with responsibilities in teaching, research, and service—will begin as early as Fall 2026 and continue through May 2027.
The position offers an opportunity for the Visiting Professor to develop their teaching practice and gain experience within a collaborative and interdisciplinary arts and design academic setting. They will teach courses for the BFA in Graphic Design and contribute to the development and launch of the BA in Design, a new interdisciplinary degree that explores the intersections of 2D, 3D, and 4D design practices. Teaching assignments will include classes in the foundations and core of the design curricula; the Visiting Professor also will teach an elective aligned with their area of creative research and expertise.
The Wernick-Richman Visiting Professorship is made possible through a provision of the Elissa Wernick and Great Neck Richman endowment to the Corcoran School of the Arts & Design, a division of the GW Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. The award focuses on the elevation of entrepreneurial or professional practices in the arts and design.
Candidates will demonstrate familiarity with the commercial industries of contemporary graphic, interaction, and/or spatial design and/or have a history of critical engagement, through experience or scholarship, with approaches to or discourse related to the fields’ (changing) societal roles and valuation. As part of their program- and school-level service, then, the Visiting Professor will take an active role in stewarding the GW Corcoran Design Lab, the school’s semi-professional design studio, through which student-workers gain applied design experience through client-based commissions and projects.
In support of their creative research, the Visiting Professor will give a public presentation of their work through the GW Corcoran Research & Practice event series. And, they will have the option of developing an exhibition or installation for one of the GW Corcoran galleries.
The GW Corcoran School of the Arts & Design is an interdisciplinary art and design environment within a large, diverse research university. We invite applications from candidates who contribute to the academic and creative community's multiplicity of approach through their teaching, research/creative practice, and/or service. Individuals who bring diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences are particularly welcomed. The GW Corcoran School of the Arts & Design strives to foster diversity, equity, and justice in our academic and creative communities.
The GW Corcoran Design Program seeks to contribute to the school’s mission both in the orientation of our degree programs and in our daily practices. As a central mediator in the relationships between people and the cultural, societal, and political systems around them, the design fields are vital to describing and influencing how we live. In daily practice, we center the support of students and faculty. Through the structure of our curricula and the coordination of our public outreach and programming, we strive to build considered and considerate relationships between people and the systems around them.