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Karen Hofmann is the president and chief executive officer of ArtCenter College of Design. When she assumed the presidency on July 1, 2022, she captured several culturally significant milestones—she is the first woman, the first alumna, and the first ArtCenter provost to hold the position.

In her role as the College’s chief academic officer, she led academic leadership on a process to envision the “Future of Education 2030,” to reimagine how ArtCenter prepares the next generation of creative leaders. She championed a strategic agenda with a focus on access, affordability, and inclusion, taking an omnichannel approach to delivering art and design education, and developing a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Action Plan to help broaden access to ArtCenter’s offerings. And she expanded the College’s exhibitions programming, further solidifying Pasadena as a must-stop destination for anybody interested in experiencing art and design.

Karen served as chair of ArtCenter’s Product Design department and has taught at the College since 2002. During that time she developed the DesignStormä collaborative design sprint project model. She spent the earlier part of her career engaged in advanced design and research at Johnson Controls Automotive Systems Group.

She graduated from ArtCenter in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Product Design, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from California State University, Northridge in 1990.