Paul Down joined the faculty of the Department of Art, Art History and Design as an
adjunct professor in 1983, one year after receiving a Master of Fine Arts Degree from
the University of Notre Dame. Since 1982 Down has continued design practice as
entrepreneur (co-owner of a sub-s corporation), corporate design manager, and
consulting industrial designer whose creative research encompasses the design of
consumer products, marine products, transportation and related accessories. In 1986
he co-founded Prodesign Incorporated, an Indiana company that continues to design
and manufacture thermoformed products. He subsequently designed and
manufactured the first commercially produced jet driven human powered water-craft
(Jet Wave), which was featured on the cover of Hammacher Schlemmer 's spring
1987 catalogue. His designs have been featured in promotional publications and at
international trade shows for Monsanto Plastics, Ford Motor Company, Stewart
Superior, and General Motors Corporation. From 1997-1999 he served as Midwest
District Education Representative for the Industrial Designers Society of America
(IDSA). In 2003-2004 he was elected as IDSA’s National Education Council Vice
President, concurrently serving as trustee to the National Design Foundation. In that
capacity, Down held the highest-ranking education office within the IDSA, also
representing national design education on IDSA’s Board of Directors. In 2005 he was
appointed to chair the IDSA’s National Future Vision Committee for Design
Education. As Associate Professor of Industrial Design at the University of Notre
Dame, Down coordinates the Industrial Design Group, directs the IDSA Student
Chapter and instrucst both graduate and undergraduate students. He has served on
the Department of Art, Art History and Design’s Committee for Appointments and
Promotions continuously from 1997 to2007. In 2001-2002, during a one year
sabbatical, Down obtained a significant design research grant from a subsidiary of
Coachmen Industries. Recognized as a valued educator, Down has received both
the 2007 Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C., Award for Excellence in Teaching as well
as the 2000 Kaneb Excellence in Teaching Award.
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