Following the tragic loss of our friend and mentor, we invite you to join us to celebrate the life of C. Martin “Marty” Smith.

Marty served as the first Chair of Product Design at ArtCenter (when it first split from a larger Industrial Design program) from 1985 to 2008, and his skillful leadership helped build the nationally recognized department at the College today. In October 2008, he assumed a professorship of industrial design at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, where he served as “Professor Chair” of the program. Marty returned to ArtCenter to teach product and transportation design in 2014.

In his professional life, Marty worked for many years at Designworks USA, where he managed several major automotive design projects for Volvo, Mazda, General Motors, Chrysler and Subaru. As a consultant, he designed products for Avery-Dennison, Reebok, Salomon, Olympus Image Systems, Playtex, and Coca-Cola. He held numerous U.S. and international patents for his designs and inventions. He licensed a half a dozen products to major companies for manufacturing and distribution.

Following a car accident in late March, Marty passed away on Thursday, April 7 with his family at his side. As an organ donor he was able to save three lives.

Being an organ donor exemplifies the generous and caring man Marty was. An industrial designer, entrepreneur and educator with over 35 years of experience in product development, design education and design management, Marty was a pillar of the ArtCenter community and will be greatly missed.

The family has established the Martin Smith Scholarship Fund at ArtCenter College of Design. When making online donations, select the “Named scholarship” option and identify “Marty Smith Scholarship” in the pull-down menu. Alternatively, you may call the Development office at 626 396-4216 to make a gift over the phone or mail a check made out to ArtCenter College of Design with “Martin Smith Scholarship Fund” written in the memo line. Checks can be mailed to ArtCenter Office of Development, 1700 Lida Street, Pasadena, CA 91103.