Matthew Gaynor

Chair
Professor, Graphic Design
211 Art and Communication Building
901.678.2217
mgaynor@memphis.edu

Biography

Matthew S. Gaynor received his BA and MFA in Graphic Design from Yale University prior to beginning his teaching career at the University of Kansas. He later accepted teaching positions at California State Universityat San Bernardino followed by the University of Cincinnati, where he was promoted to associate professor.Along the way he took a hiatus from teaching and served as creative director for F+W Publications before returning to academia at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). At UIC, Gaynor taught at all levels of thecurriculum, as well as develop- ing courses in introductory graphic design and photography for designers.Professor Gaynor then served as the Head of The Art Department at Kansas State University where he led a reorganization of the curriculum, while also developing new, online courses in Graphic Design.

Currently he serves as Chair of the Department of Art and Design the University of Memphis. Gaynor’sleadership portfolio has included serving as interim director of the UIC School of Art and Design and AssociateDean for faculty affairs for the College of Architecture and the Arts at UIC. In that role he shepherded thereorganization of the College’s academic units and was a part of campus committees that shaped three mostmajor campus policy initiatives on diversity, assessment and mentoring at UIC. Over the course of his career,Gaynor has won numerous awards for his design work, which is focused on the intersection of type and image, and continues his practice of typographic design, as well as an ongoing interest in photographic portraiture.

Education

MATTHEW GAYNOR (2024), Professor and Chair: M.F.A. 1988, Yale University