For Immediate Release
Contact: Gloria Gottschalk, New School University
             (212) 229-5667, ext. 239
              Carole Schaffer, Parsons School of Design
              212/229-8950

(August 4, 2000 New York, NY) Parsons School of Design announced today the appointment of Steven W. Kroeter as the new Chair of Design Marketing. Mr. Kroeter is founder and owner of Archetype Associates, a brand management and design advocacy-consulting firm. He is a former brand management and marketer at Booth/Hansen & Associates, The Quaker Oats Company, Random House, and other companies. His firm's clients and partnering relationships include the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Robert A.M. Stern, Richard Meier, and Robert Venturi & Denise Scott Brown.

Mr. Kroeter has worked with Tiffany & Co., Museum of Modern Art, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Anderson Windows Corp., Imperial Hotel of Tokyo, Sasaki China and Crystal, Interface Inc., Rizzoli International Publications, House Beautiful, Barnes & Noble, Inc., the Bulova Watch Corp., Target Corp. and others. He has taught in the Design Marketing Department at Parsons and holds a B.A. and M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.

Parsons launched its four-year Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.) degree in Design Marketing in 1985. Today in 2000, the program has grown by six times. Mr. Kroeter's ideas have led to a new curriculum that will emphasize Management and Administration within the design field.

Says Parsons Dean, Randy Swearer,"Design is in a renaissance both aesthetically and economically. Steve Kroeter understands the delicate balance between specialization and broader learning. He knows that designers and managers of design companies are crossing over into one another's spheres, as well they should." "My goal," says Steve Kroeter, "is that in the business world, designers and managers sit on the same side of the meeting table. For that to happen, we need managers who know a lot about design issues."

Alex T. Lee graduated from Parsons before the B.B.A. program was launched in 1985. Today as President of OXO International, which designs ergonomic tools and household products, he sees the need for programs about design management. According to Lee, "What differentiates the great design firms from the mediocre ones is leadership that understands three things: user needs, market realities, and the histories of design movements."

Parsons' program is unique because it balances liberal arts and sciences, art and design history and critical analysis, the design process, and management and administration in creative environments. A range of design fields, for which Parsons is renowned, such as product design, graphic design, digital and web design, fashion design, architecture and interior design, are covered in depth. And B.B.A. students who plan to become managers will work side-by-side with B.F.A. students who plan to become designers. Workshops will address writing, oral presentation, teamwork and leadership, career planning, technology and business. The educational philosophy relies heavily on projects that enable students to delve deeply into a subject and to collaborate with others.

Faculty members are working professionals and throughout the program, students go beyond the classroom to make key connections with the "real world." Recent internships and industry partners include ABC-TV, MTV News, Sony Entertainment Corp., Tiffany's, Bloomingdale's, Grey Advertising, RGA Digital Studio, MTV News, Polygram Records, Guggenheim Museum, Solutia, Prada, Vera Wang and Donna Karan DKNY.

Says Steve Kroeter, "The key to a great education is a curriculum that deliberately synthesizes the different areas of study. Otherwise it's just a menu of courses that students see as unrelated. Students interested in the management of design enterprises will find that the B.B.A. at Parsons is a synthesis of the humanistic, commercial and creative areas that interest them. And our goal is that students reach their goals not by accident, but by design."

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Parsons School of Design is one of oldest and largest degree-granting colleges of art and design in the nation. There are about 2,400 undergraduate students, 280 graduate students, and 2,000 continuing education and non-degree students enrolled in its programs. Students come from all 50 states of the United States and from 60 countries. Parsons' main campuses are in New York City's Greenwich Village and Midtown Manhattan. In addition, Parsons School of Design has affiliate schools in Paris, France; Kanazawa, Japan; Seoul, Korea; and the Dominican Republic. Parsons has been a division of New School University since 1970.