SHAUN JACKSON

Professor, School of Art & Design

Professor, A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture & Urban Planning
Professor, Ross School of Business

Contact

Curriculum Vitae

B.S. Arch., University of Michigan

Biography

We are deeply saddened to share the news that our friend and colleague Shaun Jackson has passed away. Shaun was critically injured in an accident in Florida over the weekend when the small airplane in which he was a passenger crashed. Shaun suffered extensive burns and succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday, January 15.

For more than two decades, Shaun has been a dedicated and beloved member of our community, mentoring generations of designers and sharing his optimism and love of life with all of us. He was the model of the interdisciplinary design educator, teaching across units and holding faculty appointments in art and design, architecture, and business. The entire university has lost a true friend and citizen.

We have set up a memorial page to share memories and stories about Shaun and to commemorate his work and life. We invite you to share your thoughts, either directly on the memorial page, or via email.

Educator, inventor, designer, and entrepreneur Shaun Jackson founded his first company, Eclipse Inc. while still a student at the University of Michigan. As president and design director, he guided its growth from a small entrepreneurial venture to a multimillion-dollar corporation with a global distribution network. Eclipse, because of Jackson's obsessive commitment to design driven excellence, was selected as a case study for a National Endowment for the Arts research project entitled The Competitive Edge: The Role of Design in American Business.

A highly visible member of North America's industrial Design community, Jackson holds more than 50 patents and has received national and international honors, including the prestigious IDEA award from Business Week. His designs have been featured in Time Magazine, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Business Week, USA Today, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, and Wired Magazine. His work has also appeared on NBC's Today Show and The Discovery Channel, and can be seen at the Museum of Modern Art Store in New York.

Shaun also holds faculty appointments in three units at U of M. He has a professorship in The School of Art and Design, the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, and in the Steven M. Ross School of Business Additionally, he has lectured at business and design schools nationwide, including Harvard University, Auburn, the University of Houston, and the University of Michigan. In February of 2005, he was the featured speaker on the Microsoft Designer's Spotlight Speaker series, which was broadcast around the world. That same year, he was appointed chairman of the National Design Conference in Washington, DC.

In addition to his teaching and speaking engagements, Jackson maintains an active design consultancy. Through his firm, Shaun Jackson Design Inc., he serves clients such as Apple Computer, Dell, Toshiba, General Electric Medical Systems, Herman Miller, Nike, L.L. Bean, Eddie Bauer, Harley Davidson, and Patagonia.

In 2000, the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum nominated Jackson for their prestigious National Design Award. In 2001, he was selected to serve as chair of the 2001 IDEA Awards jury and, the following year, chaired the inaugural Business Week Catalyst Awards jury. He has also served as a trustee of the Worldesign Foundation.

In 2009, Professor Jackson, along with his colleague, Prof. William Lovejoy, was honored by the University of Michigan as the inaugural recipient of the Provost's "Teaching Innovation Prize".