Professor Lisa Scharoun

Biography

Professor Scharoun is currently the Head of School - School of Design at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. A multi-award winning teacher, researcher and designer with expertise in Visual Communications with a focus on Design for Health & Wellbeing and Cross-cultural design, Lisa received a Master of Arts in Design Studies from Central Saint Martins (University of Arts London) and subsequently worked in London as a graphic and interior designer before taking on a role as a Senior Lecturer in Visual Communications at Raffles Design Institute in Shanghai, China. On completion of a PhD focusing on “Western Fashion Advertising in Mainland Urban China and its effects on the Self Image of Youth” from Griffith University, she was offered the role of Program Director of the Graphic Design discipline at Deakin University in Melbourne. Prior to her appointment at QUT, Dr. Scharoun spent eight years at the University of Canberra where she was Program Director for Design and the co-founder of the Cross-cultural Design Lab. She has also spent time overseas as a visiting professor at Nanyang Polytechnic (Singapore) and as a visiting professor at Norges Kreative Hoyskole (Norway).

In establishing a partnership with Queensland Health through the Healthcare Excellence Acceleration Lab (HEAL), Scharoun and colleagues have secured over $3 million in funding to support healthcare innovation projects. A highly awarded teacher and researcher, Lisa received the Australian Council of University Art and Design School’s “Distinguished Teaching Award,” Universities Australia Australian Awards for University Teaching and the QS Wharton Reimagine Education Global Award. Professor Scharoun continues to practice as a designer and has won many national and international prizes for her work. In 2021, she was awarded 2 Good Design Australia Awards for Public Service Design and Social Impact. Her work was selected as top 10 finalist in the Bill and Melinda Gates “Records for Life” competition and awarded the “Ease of Adding Information” prize for a design solution created to assist mothers in developing countries to remember to vaccinate their children. Her digital photographic design work has won numerous international awards such as the JM Cameron Prize for Women’s Photography and the Prix de la Photographie Paris.