Beth Altringer Eagle Named Distinguished Professor in Design and Director of the Design Initiative at Dartmouth

Beth Altringer Eagle, distinguished professor in design and director of the Design Initiative at Dartmouth.

An award-winning designer, educator, and entrepreneurial leader, Eagle brings more than 15 years of international experience at the intersection of behavioral science, engineering, product innovation and design. Eagle is currently Professor of Practice in Design Engineering at Brown University and founding director of its joint Master of Arts in Design Engineering program with Rhode Island School of Design, where she is also a faculty affiliate. Beth will remain available as an advisor to support a smooth transition.

"Beth Altringer Eagle brings creative vision and a unique blend of expertise across design, engineering, interdisciplinary innovation, and real-world problem-solving that aligns perfectly with how we approach design at Thayer," said Douglas Van Citters, interim dean of Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth. "This is an exciting step forward for DIAD and our efforts to create human-centered leaders ready to take on our world's most complex challenges. We're thrilled to welcome Beth to Dartmouth."

Launched in 2022, DIAD is a multidisciplinary initiative that has equipped students, faculty, and staff with design thinking tools, resources, and support to finding solutions to challenges, from energy transitions in Colombia to sustainable transportation in the Upper Valley to student mental health at Dartmouth. Under the leadership of DIAD's outgoing co-directors Sol Diamond and Eugene Korsunskiy, the initiative has built strong campus momentum, with design increasingly integrated into courses, problem-solving, and everyday practices. Human-centered design is now the most popular minor among Dartmouth undergraduates.

As DIAD's new director, Eagle will lead the next phase of DIAD's growth and shape its long-term vision and strategy to strengthen its impact across Dartmouth and in the world, and explore new undergraduate academic offerings or graduate degree programs in design.

Eagle's research explores collaborative intelligence and the integration of data and design to enhance human experience. She is currently writing a book for Penguin Publishing Group on how experts develop fluency in flavor design and was selected for the 2025 data arts residency at UC Santa Barbara's National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis. 

In addition to appointments at Brown and RISD, she is a faculty associate at Harvard's Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society and an advisor to Princeton Engineering's Keller Center. 

Previously, she spent over a decade on the faculty at Harvard's John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, where she co-developed interdisciplinary programs with Harvard's design and business schools.

Eagle was named to Thinkers50 Radar list of emerging global thought leaders in 2018 and throughout her career, she has worked with numerous global brands, including Uber, IKEA, Kering, and General Mills, on high-impact design projects. She directed research for Piaggio Fast Forward's award-winning human-helper robots that earned multiple patents.

Eagle earned a PhD in the psychology of design from Cambridge University and completed her visiting scholarship in design at Stanford, and a postdoctoral fellowship at MIT. She also holds a master's degree in architecture from the University of Cape Town, a business degree in arts management from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, and was a Fulbright Scholar in Barcelona.

The search committee, chaired by Diamond, included Korsunskiy, Professors Laura Ray, Peter Robbie, Elizabeth Murnane, and Jacqueline Wernimont.

"I want to thank Sol Diamond and Eugene Korsunskiy for their service and for leading DIAD from its launch to this exciting juncture today," Van Citters said. "I also want to acknowledge the committee's hard work in identifying a strong slate of candidates for this important role."

Eagle is eager to engage with the Dartmouth community more broadly. She will establish her research lab on campus and begin teaching in the Thayer tradition of hands-on, project- and lab-based education that emphasizes real-world problem-solving and collaboration.