about

Lisa M. Abendroth is a Professor in the Communication Design program at Metropolitan State University of Denver. She led Communication Design as the coordinator from 2000 to 2018. For over fifteen years Abendroth’s research interests have encompassed community-centered design solutions addressing issues of social equity. The acclaimed international design exhibition “Substance: Diverse Practices from the Periphery,” realized this intent through Abendroth’s curatorial vision. Today her work focuses on public interest design and the social, economic, and environmental impacts of design created within the contexts of underserved people, places, and problems. She is a SEED Network co-founder and a recipient of the SEED Award for Leadership in Public Interest Design. In 2020 she was named the SEED Education Director. She is also a contributor to the Public Interest Design Institute. Along with Bryan Bell, Abendroth is co-editor of two books in Routledge’s Public Interest Design Guidebook series: Public Interest Design Practice Guidebook: SEED Methodology, Case Studies, and Critical Issues (Routledge, 2015); and Public Interest Design Education Guidebook: Curricula, Strategies, and SEED Academic Case Studies (Routledge, 2018). Abendroth lectures, exhibits, and publishes her work nationally and internationally. She has earned degrees from Virginia Commonwealth University and the Rhode Island School of Design. Photo: Mark Woolcott for MSU Denver, 2017.