Dr. Robert I. Blaich, 1952 (Tennis)
Dr. Robert Blaich dominated the tennis courts for the Orange from 1950-52, while earning his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in industrial design. In 1951 he served as the Vice President of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity and was a member of the Tau Sigma Delta Honor Society in Architecture and Allied Arts.
Blaich's career took him all over the world. He introduced the concept of design management as a strategic tool for integrating product design into the production and marketing process. From 1960-79 Blaich was the Vice President of Corporate Design and Communications for Herman Miller, Inc in Zeeland, MI, and served as the Managing Director of Herman Miller in Europe in Switzerland. From 1980-92 Blaich was the Executive Vice President of Royal Phillips Electronics in the Netherlands before opening Design Management Consultants in Aspen, Colo.
Blaich served on many committees and boards dealing with product design and design management. He presently serves as the Vice President of Design for the World in Barcelona, Spain. He also serves on the Board of International Design Conference in Aspen and as Chairman of the Board of the Walter Dorwin Teague Design in Seattle, New York and Los Angeles. Blaich is the author of several articles and books on design such as Product Design and Corporate Strategy (1993) and New and Notable Product Design (1995).
Blaich has been a lecturer and visiting professor at many major universities. He served as a member of the Advisory Board at the University of Art and Design Helsinki, Finland. Blaich's expertise in the field brought him to the Center of Design and Business, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark, as well as the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.
Blaich has used his knowledge of design management on many community boards and commissions. He presently is the Chairman of the Aspen Planning and Zoning Commission, serves on the Aspen Design Review Board and is a member of the Aspen Downtown Enhancement Committee. He served as the Chairman of the Environmental Design Committee on the Michigan Council for the Arts and served as a panel member for the National Endowment for the Arts.
Blaich received an honorary doctorate from Syracuse University in 1990.
