Marcia Lausen is the former Director of the UIC School of Design and founder of the Chicago office of Studio/lab. At UIC Marcia lead a renowned faculty of professional designers variously engaged in contemporary design theory and practice. As a design and academic leader, Marcia is an advocate for the value of design in commercial, cultural, urban, and civic activity. Studio/lab maintains a client base that spans these sectors.
Following the 2000 presidential election, she played a leading role in Design for Democracy, a national election design reform initiative of AIGA, the professional association for design. Her book of the same title was published in 2007 by the University of Chicago Press.
Marcia was named a 2004 Fast Company Master of Design and in 2011 an AIGA Fellow. In 2015 she received the AIGA Medal and was recognized as a UIC Distinguished Professor the following year.