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Board Candidates

We are pleased to introduce the roster of candidates that are applying to serve Cumulus for CEB VIII (2022–2025 term).

Meet the Candidates

Please find the candidate list organized alphabetically by country.

During the GA, the Presidency voting will take place first. The voting for the ten seats on the board will follow. Whenever there are multiple candidates per country, there will be a first round vote in the GA to elect who goes to the final round.

Presidency Candidates
Italy

Lorenzo Imbesi*

United States

Mariana Amatullo*

Board Candidates Eligible for Re-Election and Election
China

Miaosen Gong
Yingchun Zang

Denmark

Nicola Morelli

Estonia

Anne Pikkov*

Finland

Teemu Leinonen*
Satu Miettinen

France

Natacha Lallemand
Benjamin Walker

Germany

Philipp Heidkamp*

India

Praveen Nahar
Archana Surana

Ireland

Adam de Eyto*

Israel

Merav Perez

Japan

Makoto Watanabe

Mexico

Roberto Iniguez Flores

Philippines

Guillerma Mendoza

Poland

Michal Stefanowski

Portugal

Teresa Franqueira

South Africa

Monica Di Ruvo
Desmond Laubscher

Spain

Albert Fuster

Switzerland

Michael Krohn*

*Current Board Members, CEB VII (2019–2022)

Presidency Candidates

United States

Mariana Amatullo, PhD

Cumulus Association Incumbent President, eligible for re-election, Board Member, CEB V (2013-2016), re-elected CEB VI (2016-2019)

Vice Provost for Global Executive Education and Online Strategic Initiatives, Associate Professor, Strategic Design and Management, Parsons School of Design, The New School, United States

Read the Candidate’s Letter of Motivation, CV and Institutional Endorsement

Recommendation Letters provided by:
1. Aalto University (Finland), Dean Tuomas Auvinen
2. Royal College of Art (UK), Vice-Rector Dr. Paul Thompson
3. Universidad del Desarrollo (Chile), Dean Alejandra Amenábar

Watch the Candidate’s video.

Italy

Lorenzo Imbesi, PhD

Cumulus Association Board Member, CEB VII (2019-2022), eligible for election to President

Full Professor and Sapienza Design Research Director, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy

Read the Candidate’s Letter of Motivation, CV and Institutional Endorsement

Recommendation Letters provided by:
1. Lancaster University, United Kingdom, Prof. Rachel Cooper
2. George Brown College, Toronto, Canada, Prof. Luigi Ferrara
3. IDC School of Design, IIT Bombay, India, Prof. Ravi Poovaiah

Watch the Candidate’s video

Board Candidates Eligible for Re-Election and Election

The following five countries have 2 candidates standing for election and/or re-election to the Board.

Per Cumulus Statutes, only one candidate per county may be represented on the board (outside the Presidency). Therefore, In a first-round voting process, The General Assembly will decide which of the 2 candidates for China, France, Finland, India, and South Africa will participate in the election process of CEB VIII.

China

Finland

Finland

Teemu Leinonen, PhD

Cumulus Association Incumbent Board Member, CEB VII (2019-2022)

Associate Professor of New Media Design and Learning, Aalto Media Lab, Media Department, School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Aalto University, Finland

Read the Candidate’s Letter of Motivation, CV and Institutional Endorsement

Recommendation Letters provided by:
1. Universidad de los Andes, Colombia, Dean Hernando Barragán
2. Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, Finland, Head of School Auli Sillanpää
3. Central Academy of Arts, China, Prof. Xiao Yong

Watch the Candidate’s video

France

India

South Africa

The candidates below automatically qualify and will be part of the pool of candidates considered in the election process of CEB VIII.

Germany

Philipp Heidkamp

Cumulus Association Incumbent Board Member, current Vice-President, CEB VII (2019-2022)

Professor, Head of MA Integrate Design / MEDes, Chair International Committee Köln International School of Design (KISD), Germany

Read the Candidate’s Letter of Motivation, CV and Institutional Endorsement

Recommendation Letters provided by:
1. The Glasgow School of Art, UK, Deputy Director for Research and Innovation Prof. Irene McAra-McWilliam MA FRSA OBE
2. Musashino Art University, Japan, President Prof. Tadanori Nagasawa
3. RMIT University, Australia, Deputy Vice-Chancellor & Vice President Prof. Tim Marshal

Watch the Candidate’s video

Ireland

Adam de Eyto, PhD

Cumulus Association Incumbent Board Member, current Treasurer, CEB VII (2019-2022)

Head of Design, Limerick School of Art and Design, Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest (TUS), Ireland

Read the Candidate’s Letter of Motivation, CV and Institutional Endorsement

Recommendation Letters provided by:
1. National College of Art and Design, Dublin, Ireland
2. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Director Rodrigo Ramírez
3. National Institute of Design (NID), India, Dr. Shilpa Das

Watch the Candidate’s video

Switzerland

Michael Krohn

Cumulus Association Incumbent Board Member, CEB VII (2019-2022)

Professor, Head of the Center for Sustainability, Zȗrich University of the Arts (ZHdK), Switzerland

Read the Candidate’s Letter of Motivation, CV and Institutional Endorsement

Recommendation Letters provided by:
1. Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle, Germany, Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Axel Müller-Schöll
2. University of Applied Arts Vienna, Austria, President Dr. Gerald Bast

Watch the Candidate’s video

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