Stewart Reed

Department Chair, Graduate and Undergraduate Transportation Design

Biography

Stewart Reed is the chair of the Transportation Design Department at ArtCenter, where he oversees the undergraduate and graduate programs.

A 1969 graduate of ArtCenter, Reed has had a distinguished 35-year career in transportation design. Career achievements include a special-mission military vehicle for Lockheed Martin, an innovative SUV-van hybrid concept called the GearBox for Mobility Outfitters, and the spectacular Cunningham C7 luxury GT coupe for Bob Lutz and Briggs S. Cunningham III. He has served as vice president of design for Prince Corporation (now Johnson Controls), where he developed design tools, resources and practices to advance interior vehicle design, and was chief designer of Toyotaʼs Calty Design Research studio. At Chrysler, he developed pre-production new-vehicle categories in the advanced design studio.

Reed has designed and developed more than 30 concept vehicles throughout his career. In 1994, he established Stewart Reed Design and became consultant to the manufacturing industry in automotive and consumer products, with clients including Michelin, Icon Aircraft, Herman Miller, Nissan, Hyundai, Ford and Lockheed Martin. Recently, the Mullin Automotive Museum sought him out for coachwork design of a historically significant Bugatti. Reed maintains activity in design, spanning from GT high-end/performance-luxury to off-road vehicles. He has patents involving lighting, seating, healthcare and automotive innovations.

Reed is a judge at numerous concours—including Amelia Island, Pebble Beach and the Louis Vuitton in Paris—and a design jury member at both the Los Angeles and Detroit International Auto Shows. Also, for the past 10 years, he has been chief juror for the Michelin Challenge Design, an international design competition for students and emerging designers.