Manhattanville College”™s recently retired President Michael Geisler returned to campus last week for the rededication of the Center for Design named in his honor.
In a ceremony attended by faculty, staff and the community, Geisler was honored for his contributions to the center, which opened in 2019. He was a major force behind the center”™s creation saying he believed that design thinking was an essential component of a liberal arts education. Manhattanville offers the only certificate program in Westchester and is among the few liberal arts colleges in the country to offer an undergraduate certificate in design thinking.
“President Emeritus Geisler came to Manhattanville with a vision of design thinking as a way to enhance the liberal arts education at Manhattanville College,” said Alison Carson, Ph.D., associate provost for academic innovation and design thinking at Manhattanville. “It has been an honor working to bring Michael”™s vision to fruition. In just three and a half years from the opening of our doors, we have a Certificate in Design Thinking with our first students graduating this spring.”™”™
Design thinking is a systematic approach to solving problems that has gained popularity in recent years among business leaders and others because of its emphasis on innovative and collaborative solutions to complex issues.
Geisler, who served as president from 2016 to 2022, said, “Lots of people have good ideas, but not everyone has someone to support those ideas. My cabinet was a very integral part of making this happen”¦.”
Manhattanville College is a small, private liberal arts institution dedicated to academic excellence, purposeful education and social justice located 30 miles from New York City on a 100-acre suburban campus in the heart of Westchester County.
