Prof. Dr. René Spitz. Chair of Media Design and full-time professor of Design Research, Design Management, and Communication Management at Rheinische Fachhochschule Köln (RFH), University of Applied Sciences Cologne, Germany.

The main focus of his research and publication works lies on theory and practice of Ulm School of Design / HfG Ulm, the designers’ societal responsibility, the future of design education, and foundations of design.

René Spitz is a leading expert on the Ulm School of Design/Hochschule für Gestaltung (HfG), 1953-1968. He has published several books and a large number of essays and articles on this topic, discussing the relevance of historical concepts for current institutions and situations in the future. Spitz holds the world’s largest collection of photographic works on HfG Ulm (Hans G. Conrad Collection). Since 2016 he leads a worldwide research and publication project on the future of design education on behalf of iF Design Foundation (until 2021).

He is founding member of the German Society for Design Theory and Research (DGTF) and was appointed Head of the Advisory Board of the International Design Forum (IFG) Ulm, 2003-2007. He is frequently invited as keynote speaker and guest lecturer at conferences and universities in Europe, USA, Africa, and Asia. For more than 20 years, he has covered newsworthy developments of international design with 400 broadcasts in Europe’s largest public-law radio station, WDR (Westdeutscher Rundfunk), communicating in-depth knowledge of design to a broader audience.

As curator and co-curator of design exhibitions at internationally renowned museums (e.g. Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Beijing), René Spitz showed an integrated view on system design and everyday objects. He has been awarded several times for his works.