Robert Schwartz is currently an independent transformation and innovation executive leader focused on social impact. As part of this recent work, he is a member of the Boards of College Possible, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, and Penfield Children’s Center.
Until May 2025, Robert was Chief Transformation and Innovation Officer at Mount Mary University in Milwaukee, WI. In this role, he fostered partnerships and collaborations with corporations, non-profits, and government organizations to increase access to more STEAM experiences for MMU’s diverse population of young women of color. He first joined MMU as Dean, Schools of Arts, Design & Business in August 2020. In that role, Robert oversaw Studio Arts, Fashion Design, Interior Architecture and Design, Music Movement and Dance, Graphic Design/UX, the BBA and MBA, and Accounting Programs.
He is a former Vice President, Global Design & User Experience at GE Healthcare. Having held this position from December 2007 to April 2020, Robert oversaw as many as six studios in five countries, comprised of 60 team members, and was responsible for the Global Design function encompassing industrial design, design thinking, human factors, ergonomics, user-interface, environmental design, and design research. As a strategic driver of organic business growth, the organization focused on the look, feel, usability, and end-to-end, digital-physical experience of GEHC products and services. He was also the GE Healthcare Global Executive Sponsor of the People with Disabilities Network and was a faculty member/advisor to GE Corporate’s Mother & Child initiative in Africa.
Since 2009, that team has received more than 22 medals from the International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) and numerous others, and was listed in 2011 by Fast Company as a Corporate Design Stronghold. In 2015, his career was cited by Fast Company as among top Chief Design Officers. In 2015, the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) named him among the 50 most notable industrial designers of the last 50 years. In 2019, Robert was awarded the Diversity in Design Award for Lifetime Achievement in Design, Design Education, Design Management, Mentorship, and Diversity by the Design Management Institute. He is Board Chair Emeritus of the Design Management Institute and remains active.
A 4-term member of the Board of Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, he is past Board Chair. He currently chairs its Academic Affairs Committee. Robert has been a member of the Design Management Advisory Board and has been an adjunct graduate school faculty member at Northwestern University, and had similar roles at Savannah College of Art and Design and Carnegie Mellon, and held a faculty appointment at the University of Cincinnati.
At P&G, he was a global design leader working to transform the design function and was VP, New Product Development, at Levolor Kirsch/Newell Brands. At Motorola, Robert was Director of Design for Commercial, Government, Industrial, and Consumer Products.
As Executive Director and COO of IDSA, he had the chance to forge a relationship with Business Week Magazine to annually publish the IDEA awards. This led to a UN appointment to the People’s Republic of China as Senior Advisor for Design. He testified before Congress on a bill to establish a US Design Center and was also Director, Science and Technology Programs for AdvaMed, where he lobbied for the medical device industry. Prior to this, Robert was head of Industrial Design/Architecture for the American Red Cross.
He was inducted into the IDSA Academy of Fellows at the 2007 World Congress of Industrial Design for his contributions to the industry. Robert’s BFA in Design comes from Kansas City Art Institute. He has a Master’s Degree in Industrial Design from Rhode Island School of Design, where he was a Roddy Scholar and held a teaching assistantship.
