Roger Funk papers

Collection

Identifier: UA-17.331

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Roger Funk papers include materials related to his career including correspondence, articles he wrote, and conferences in which he participated. The collection includes General Electric patents and correspondence, materials from his teaching career at Michigan State University, University of Iowa, Penn State University and the Kansas City Art Institute. Also included are files for his work with the Industrial Design Society of America and Industrial Design Education Association. Other materials include a file on the Lantern Hill housing development, theater sets Funk designed while was at MSU, and research materials on cast iron toys and waffle irons.

Dates

Creation: 1957 - 2004

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish material from this collection must be obtained from University Archives & Historical Collections, Michigan State University.

Biographical Note

Roger Funk graduated from the University of Illinois in 1957 with a B.F.A. in Industrial Design. He worked for General Electric (1957-1963) as an Industrial Designer and designed several home appliances including the Toast-R-Oven®. In 1961, he transferred to the GE Radio and Television Design Group. Funk left GE in 1963 and enrolled in graduate school at Syracuse University where he earned a Master's in Industrial Design.

He was an instructor in Industrial Design at the University of Iowa for one year before coming to Michigan State University to teach Industrial Design. He served as chair of the Department of Art and as assistant dean in the College of Arts and Letters during his tenure at MSU.

In 1980, Funk left MSU to become the chair of the design department at Kansas City Art Institute. In 1985, he became the director of the School of Design at the University of Cincinnati.

In 1989, he returned to MSU as a consultant, interim department chair and professor.