Priddy named interim head of Graphic Design

Joel Priddy, associate professor of graphic design, has been appointed interim head of the Department of Graphic Design in the Stuckeman School, College of Arts and Architecture, effective July 1.

Priddy, a member of the Penn State faculty since 2012, is an illustrator and cartoonist whose graphic novels and comics include Pulpatoon: Pilgrimage (AdHouse Books), The Preposterous Voyages of IronHide Tom (AdHouse Books) and The Gift of the Magi (Harper Collins). His latest graphic novel, First There Was Chaos, will be available from Uncivilized Books in October 2023.

“Joel Priddy brings a clear commitment to our students and the department in this new role,” said B. Stephen Carpenter II, Michael J. and Aimee Rusinko Kakos Dean in the College of Arts and Architecture. “He recognizes graphic design's role in problem-solving and will lead the department in preparing today's students to become agile designers able to succeed in a rapidly evolving discipline.”

Priddy said he looks forward to building on the graphic design department's founding vision.

“Fifty-three years ago, Penn State Graphic Design was founded with a vision that has produced generations of leaders in the profession. This vision focused on graphic design as a problem-solving endeavor rather than an aesthetic one,” said Priddy. “In recent years, we have taken on a renewal of this vision in response to our changing professional, cultural and technological context. This has included embracing human-centered research, dynamic systems and designing for communities. I am eager to work with my colleagues to continue implementing this vision.”

Priddy's work, “The Amazing Life of Onion Jack,” was featured in The Best American Comics 2006. He has won an Ignatz Award for Outstanding Debut and has received multiple Eisner Award nominations, including Best Graphic Novel and Best Single Issue Comic. The film adaptation of his story, “The Long, Slow Flight of the Ashbot,” was awarded Best Sci-Fi Film at the Berlin Short Film Festival. He has taught design, illustration and comics at Virginia Commonwealth University and the Memphis College of Art.