The Sir Misha Black Awards join 1851 Royal Commission to reinforce importance of design education to industry and society.

The Sir Misha Black Awards Committee for Distinguished Services to Design Education, has joined the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851. The Sir Misha Black Awards were established in 1977 to honour those, who like him, have given distinguished services to design education. The inclusion of the Sir Misha Black Awards in the Royal Commission’s portfolio, effective from February 2020, reinforces the Commission’s mission to “increase the means of industrial education and extend the influence of science and art upon productive industry”.
Nominations for the awards are now open.

Misha Black was appointed first Professor of Industrial Design at the Royal College of Art in 1959. He established links between the Royal College of Art and Imperial College. There are two awards that bear his name. The Medal is international in scope and ‘education’ is interpreted in its widest context. The Medal has been awarded to educators in the northern and southern hemispheres, including the United States, Chile, South Africa, India and in island nations as far apart as Japan and Ireland. It is the only international award for design educators and the only award of any kind promoted jointly and collaboratively by distinguished design and engineering bodies in the United Kingdom. The Award for Innovation in Design Education, established in 1999, is confined to the United Kingdom and was introduced to recognise innovation of all kinds in design education in the UK.

The 2021 Awards
The Call for Nominations for the 2021 Awards will be open from February 2021.

Click here to find out more information on how you can apply

“The Charter of the Royal Commission states its mission is to ‘increase the means of industrial education and extend the influence of science and art upon productive industry’. In 1851, as today, this could not happen without the tireless dedication of educators who have devoted their lives to encouraging talented people, regardless of age or background, develop, their intellect and creativity through the discipline of design. The Misha Black Awards Committee, in continuing to acknowledge distinguished educators, will honour those who constantly contribute to the Commission’s mission. In so doing they will recognise those who will realise the wish, expressed by Prince Albert in 1851, ‘to further knowledge exchange and international cooperation, leading to the improvement of the human condition’.”

Mary Mullin
Chairman of the Sir Misha Black Awards Committee