Sam & Emily Mann Annual Scholarship

The Sam & Emily Mann Annual Scholarship was established by Sam and Emily Mann in 2014 to provide scholarship assistance to students of substantial promise but inadequate funds in the departments of Product Design/Industrial Design, Transportation Design, Environmental Design (now Spatial Experience Design) and Film. This award is given to students who demonstrate both financial need and outstanding visual and academic ability. The scholarship seeks to support ArtCenter’s diverse, equitable and inclusive learning environment.

Sam Mann served on ArtCenter’s Board of Trustees from 2005-2022. He and his wife Emily, an interior architect and exhibit designer, are long-time and avid supporters of design education and ArtCenter. Sam Mann is also a world-renowned collector and racer of vintage automobiles who has won Best of Show at the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance four times. He is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati in industrial design, and early on worked for the prestigious design and architectural firm Eliot Noyes and Associates, where he was inspired by some of the era’s most talented designers. Mann then developed a line of tabletop and decorative accessories and set up a manufacturing and distribution company. Later he established the industrial design consulting firm, Samuel J. Mann and Associates, which won numerous awards for its designs of consumer products and technical instruments. Mr. Mann would go on to design, manufacture and market many of his own product ideas from appliance designs to personal care products. He has also designed much of the automated manufacturing that enables competitive products in the U.S. He is the recipient of over 75 utility patents and several design patents.