KRZYSZTOF LENK

LENK--KRZYSZTOF (KRIS). Graphic designer and a specialist in information design, great teacher, mentor and friend to many, passed away on May 22nd, at the age of 82.

Mr Lenk, professor emeritus at Rhode Island School of Design, was born in Warsaw, Poland, in July of 1936. After obtaining a degree in graphic design from the Academy of Fine Arts of Krakow, he worked as an art director for Polish and French magazines, and authored posters and book designs. Between the years of 1973 and 1982 Lenk was a professor of graphic design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Lodz, Poland, and a visiting professor at Ohio State University. In 1982, Mr. Lenk accepted a position as Professor of Graphic Design at Rhode Island School of Design, and moved to the United States permanently. He remained with the department until his retirement in 2010. Kris Lenk co-founded Dynamic Diagrams, an information design studio where he spearheaded projects for global companies including IBM, Samsung Electronics, Microsoft, Museum of Arts and Trades in Paris, and for the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC. He co-directed the studio until its acquisition in 2000, after which he served as an advisor. Mr. Lenk has also served as an advisor to Tellart, a Providence-based design studio. Over his lifetime Kris Lenk was a professor and mentor to many generations of students, both in United States and abroad. He was an author of numerous texts and coauthor of the book Mapping Web Sites: Digital Media Design. This year he published a memoir, Podaj Dalej. He was an exceptional human being, always helpful. A passionate lover of music, which always surrounded him. Kris Lenk is survived by his wife Ewa Lenk, his two children and four grandchildren.