Daniel H. and Mary S. Otto Endowed Scholarship

The Daniel H. and Mary S. Otto Endowed Scholarship was established in 2007 to honor and celebrate the life of photographer and alum Daniel H. Otto (BFA 40 Photography & Imaging) and his wife Mary S. Otto (BFA 48 Photography & Imaging) by providing scholarship support to students in ArtCenter’s Photography and Imaging program.

In 2007, the legacy of Daniel H. Otto was memorialized by his sister, Gail Higgins, who funded an endowed scholarship in his name to benefit ArtCenter students majoring in photography. In 2009, Daniel’s son Eric renamed the scholarship the Daniel Hand Mary S. Otto Endowed Scholarship to include the legacy of his mother Mary and to honor both his parents. In the late 1930’s, Gail was instrumental in her brother Daniel’s decision to attend ArtCenter when she spotted a newspaper article about the College. Her initiative put him on a path that truly defined the course of his life’s work.

Daniel subsequently chose to enroll at Art Center School on Third Street and, during his studies, met instructor Ansel Adams and then worked in his studio after graduating in 1940. He was at Adams’ Yosemite studio at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack, after which he enlisted in the Army as a photographer. He served in London, and then followed Eisenhower during the invasion of North Africa and Italy. When he returned from the war, Daniel worked as a photographer at the Ford Motor Company in Detroit. He then taught industrial photography at Art Center from 194 7-1950 before joining the booming California aviation industry at North American Aviation. While teaching at Art Center, Daniel met his future wife Mary.

Mary was born in Denver, Colorado in 1920 and grew up in Du Quoin, a small town in Southern Illinois. After coming to Southern California to attend high school in Santa Ana, she attended Santa Ana Junior College and received her liberal arts degree from UCLA. In 1941, she started attending classes in photography at Art Center and worked in the photography supply store at Yellowstone National Park during the summer. From 1942 – 1945, she served in the Navy as a specialist photographer in the Photo Science Laboratory, Naval Air Station Anacostia, near Washington D.C.

After her discharge, Mary moved to New York City where she worked for Macy’s in their photography department. She then returned to Southern California and continued her education at Art Center, where she met and eventually married Daniel. In the 1950’s, the couple freelanced in Mexico as photojournalists selling stories and photographs to travel magazines. The couple then moved to San Diego where Daniel worked in General Dynamics’ Convair Division and ultimately managed the photography department. They also started a family and raised a son, Eric. Eventually, Daniel left Convair to work at a professional photography lab owned by Joe Busco PHOT ’48, where he managed the Black & White department until his retirement.

The Daniel H. and Mary S. Otto Endowed Scholarship celebrates the accomplishments, careers, and legacies of Daniel and Mary Otto and provides support for Art Center’s outstanding photography majors who look to begin their own distinguished careers.