LESLIE SPEER

Chair, Product Design, MICA Baltimore

My career has been dedicated to using design to improve the world, combining experience in corporate, consulting, and academic environments. For the last three decades
I have focused on teaching others how to use design methods to improve their lives, and the lives of others.
I work in rural and developing communities around the world, closely collaborating with the people of those communities, along with having my students next to
me. Nothing is better than seeing young minds realize to surprise a field-worker or a working mother by designing something that really meets their needs. Currently I am Chair of the Product Design Department at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). My professional design career has included work at Philips NV, Dupont, frog design, and Praxis Design. In addition, I have continuously done consulting and research with people in under-served communities. I am also developing my craft as a jeweler and honing my skills of living off the land. Nature is my inspiration.