Ken Friedman joined the VESKI Design Sub-Committee in early 2009. He works at the intersection of three fields: design, management, and art. As Professor and Dean of Design at Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia, he works with theory construction and comparative research methodology for design while leading the work of the Faculty of Design. He also holds a research appointment at Denmark’s Design School in Copenhagen, and he is Professor of Leadership and Strategic Design at the Norwegian School of Management, focusing on knowledge economy issues, culture, and leadership.
Ken Friedman has undertaken research in the philosophy of science, the philosophy of design, and doctoral education in design. He also works with national design policy projects in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Wales. He plays an active role in developing international research networks and conferences for the design research community as editor of the journal Artifact, as book reviews editor of Design Research News, and Communications Secretary of the Design Research Society. He co-chaired the La Clusaz Conference on Doctoral Education in Design in 2000, the 2006 conference of the European Academy of Management in Oslo, and the 2006 conference of the Design Research Society in Lisbon.
In 2007, Loughborough University honored Friedman with the degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa, for outstanding contributions to design research.
Ken Friedman is also a practicing artist and designer active in the international laboratory known as Fluxus. He had his first solo exhibition in New York in 1966. His work is represented in major museums and galleries around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Tate Modern in London, the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College, and Stadtsgalerie Stuttgart. The University of Iowa Alternative Traditions in the Contemporary Arts is the official repository of Friedman’s papers and research notes. Archiv Sohm at Stadtsgalerie Stuttgart and the Mandeville Department of Special Collections at the University of California also hold extensive collections on Friedman’s work in the 1960s and 1970s.