Woodbury Graphic Design Professor Cate Roman Named Graphic Design USA ‘Educator to Watch’ in 2017

In the latest affirmation of the quality of Woodbury University’s Graphic Design program, Graphic Design USA has named Cate Roman, Associate Professor of Graphic Design, to the 2017 edition of its “GDUSA Educators-to-Watch” issue. 

Roman, a member of the full-time Woodbury faculty since 2006, was selected as one of a dozen design educators nationwide to be featured in Graphic Design USA’s special edition. In March, Graphic Design USA named three Woodbury seniors — Czarah Castro, Patricia Hajjar and Christina Laguens — to its 2017 GDUSA Students to Watch list.

Scheduled for publication in the June issue, the article is expected to be seen by roughly 100,000 readers of GDUSA‘s print edition, digital edition and popular website.  A full page will be devoted to Roman as a dedicated educator and member of the Woodbury faculty.  For more than 50 years, Graphic Design USA has been a business-to-business information source for graphic design professionals.

Cate Roman is an accomplished artist, art director and designer whose work in private practice and education spans more than 20 years. Her extensive professional experience ranges from packaging design to exhibit graphics.  Clients have included Mattel, Inc., the UCLA Events Office, Caruso Affiliated, and the Library Foundation of Los Angeles.  Prof. Roman has taught classes in Communication Design, Digital Production, Packaging Design, Typography, Portfolio Presentation, and Business Practices.  She has mentored countless students on to successful careers in the graphic design industry.  Before joining Woodbury as full-time faculty, she taught in the Communication Arts Department at Otis College of Art and Design.

Prof. Roman holds a B.A. in Art from Pitzer College and an M.F.A. in Sculpture from Claremont Graduate University.  Her sculptural works use words to explore visual structure as a replacement for verbal language.  The abstracted and ambiguous sculptures use both presence and absence of language to articulate the experience of word combinations. The results are objects that create puzzles, which are not intended to be resolved.

“Cate is an exemplary figure in the Graphic Design Department and across the Southern California arts community,” said Behnoush McKay, M.F.A., Graphic Design chair in Woodbury’s School of Media, Culture and Design.  “GDUSA has recognized what we at Woodbury have long known – that Cate is both a creative powerhouse and a marvelous teacher, and we extend our heartiest congratulations to her.”

“I am honored and humbled by the recognition from Graphic Design USA, and I’m thrilled to share it with the students, faculty and staff at Woodbury,” Roman said. “This has been a marvelous journey of inquiry and discovery.  It’s a privilege to engage in the process of creation with students every single day, and witnessing their success as they move into the professional world is enormously gratifying.”

Woodbury’s Graphic Design program grants a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, which is included in the university’s accreditation by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design.  The BFA is a professional degree, which translates to a top education resulting in strong, competitive student portfolios that stand out in the graphic design industry. Woodbury students consistently win international and national design awards, and have achieved recognition in entertainment design, web design, advertising design, package design, photography, identity design and environmental graphics.  Woodbury has been recognized as among the top programs nationally by Graphic Design USA.

Small class size allows individual attention from the professional faculty and educational experiences both inside and outside of the classroom, which provides students with the ability to create effective and engaging visual communication solutions.  The program has gained a reputation for graduating top quality designers ready to take their place in the profession.

About Woodbury University

Founded in 1884, Woodbury University is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Southern California. The university ranks 15th among the nation’s “25 Colleges That Add the Most Value,” according to Money Magazine, was voted “Best Graduate School” in the Los Angeles Daily News 2018 Readers Choice Awards, and is a 2018-19 College of Distinction. Woodbury was a finalist for the General Community Service Award, a part of the 2015 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll recognition program. With campuses in Burbank/Los Angeles and San Diego, the university offers bachelor\\’s degrees from the School of Architecture, School of Business, School of Media, Culture & Design, and College of Liberal Arts, along with a Master of Business Administration, Master of Architecture, Master of Interior Architecture and Master of Science in Architecture. The San Diego campus offers Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Architecture, Master of Interior Architecture and Master of Landscape Architecture degrees, as well as a Master of Science in Architecture, Real Estate Development. Visit woodbury.edu for more information.