For over 45 years, Dan Droz has been a sculptor, visual artist, designer and educator and until 2018, was president of Droz and Associates, a consulting firm specializing in branding and product development.
For 17 years he also served on the faculty of Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), teaching in both the College of Fine Arts and Business School, where he co-founded the first university program in the U.S. to bring together engineers, MBA’s and designers in a single program. He also directed the Design for Business Initiative and the training of guides for the world’s largest exhibition of design which toured 9 Soviet cities, sponsored by the United States Information Agency (USIA).
Dan is the recipient of numerous regional, national and international awards, including recognition by the American Marketing Association as a “Marketer of the Year” 31 times, more than any firm in America, receiving the coveted “Grand Marketer of Year” in 2012, and in 2014 was awarded “Agency of the Year” in Western Pennsylvania. He is also the recipient of over 50 MarCom, Hermes, AVA, Daphne and other awards for his creative work, including the “Designer’s Choice” award by ID Magazine and “Best of America” by Abitare (Italy), and has been featured in over 100 articles and books, including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.
As a consultant designer in the furniture and home furnishings markets, he became a leading voice in the ‘Furniture as Art’ movement in the 1980’s. His clients included Beylerian, Ltd., H.E. Lauffer, Nordisk Andels Eksport (Denmark) and Amisco (Canada), among others. His furniture designs, in particular, have garnered an unprecedented 7 Daphne Awards, the ‘Oscars’ of furniture design and have been shown in many one-man and group exhibitions.
Dan graduated cum laude from Harvard College in 1972, with a double major in the History of Science and Visual and Environmental Studies. After graduation, he served as Guest Design Director at Mademoiselle Magazine in New York before returning to Pittsburgh to begin his consulting career. In 1996 he was recognized as one of six distinguished design alumni of Harvard College at the 30th anniversary of Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts.