Dr. So-Yeon Yoon Recognized as Interior Design Educator of the Year

The International Interior Design Association (IIDA) will be awarding Dr. So-Yeon Yoon, an associate professor at Cornell University as the Interior Design Educator of the Year during the organization’s Annual Meeting on June 8. The event will be held at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.

According to Executive VP and CEO Cheryl S. Durst, Hon. FIIDA, LEED AP, the decision to recognize Dr. Yoon’s efforts were based on her extensive level of understanding of design and her dedicated passion and impressive initiatives to innovate her student’s way of thinking. “That makes me personally very pleased to celebrate her as IIDA Educator of the Year,” Durst said.

Dr. Yoon were selected by a panel of juror including Carlos Martines (Principal at Gensler), Amy Campo (Principal of Amy Campos Architect) and Barbara Haaksma (VP of Design and Marketing for Milliken). Haaksma was also the recipient of the IIDA Educator of the Year for 2013.

Martinez explains, “Her broad perspective on design and on the world at large is impressive and she’s using that expertise to take her students into new and exciting territory.” Martinez cited that Dr. Yoon is a firm supporter of cross-disciplinary thinking and has provided her students with a holistic approach and understanding of design through conceptual thinking, technical expertise and experiential awareness.

Dr. Yoon earned a master’s degree for Environmental Design at the University of Missouri and has worked in South Korea and Missouri and has taught at the University of Ulsan’s School of Design. She moved back to the US and has been a faculty at the Architectural Studies Department at the University of Missouri Columbia where she was also a director for the graduate studies program for the Design with Digital Media. Dr. Yoon earned her Ph.D. in Information Technology with an emphasis on Human Computer Interaction from the University of Missouri.Dr. Yoon has authored and co-authored books on usability of virtual reality technology, use of color in healthcare interiors and published academic journals on human-computer interaction and design. She has constantly produced research works on creating effective design and design communication through emerging technologies and evaluate how humans respond to physical as virtual built environment.

For the IIDA Design Educator of the Year Award, Yoon will receive $10,000 cash from Milliken and a complimentary membership to IIDA in 2015.