Jessica Meharry
Interim Director of Academic Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Associate Professor
jmeharry@colum.eduBiography
Jessica Meharry is an Associate Professor in the Business & Entrepreneurship Department at Columbia College Chicago where she coordinates the Design Management program and teaches classes in social innovation, design strategy and management, project management, and entrepreneurship. She is also currently serving as the Director of Academic Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the college.
Jessica’s cross-disciplinary research interests and professional endeavors revolve around anti-oppressive design practices for professional designers; envisioning anti-racist futures through design methods; and equity-oriented experiential education within design pedagogy and curricula. Her current research projects include the development and testing of an anti-oppressive design framework focused on information and communication technologies. She is also a collaborator on a research project using design methods to explore anti-racist futures in organizational contexts.
Jessica earned a BS in Radio/Television/Film from Northwestern University, an MFA in Photography from Savannah College of Art and Design, and a PhD in Design from IIT Institute of Design.
Instructional Areas
Design Management, Design Strategy, Social Innovation, Project Management, Entrepreneurship
Creative Practice and Research Interests
Equitable Innovation, Anti-racist Design Methods, Arts and Design Entrepreneurship, Design Management Pedagogy, Creative Processes
Degrees
Bachelor of Science in Speech, Radio/Television/Film Northwestern University 1996
M.F.A., Photography Savannah College of Art & Design 2001