Jihyun Song is an Associate Teaching Professor of Interior Design at Drexel University and a LEED Accredited Professional with over 20 years of experience. Jihyun holds B.F.A. and M.F.A. degrees in Interior Environmental Design from Ewha Woman’s University in Seoul, South Korea and a M.S. in Design Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her major research interests include wayfinding design principles in architectural interior spaces and practice in healthcare design. She also studies evidence-based design methods, design communication and visualization featuring environmental color, and creative approaches to design scholarship. Her works have been internationally and nationally recognized from peer-reviewed publications, award competitions and exhibitions at international, national, and regional levels.
Prior to coming to Drexel in 2021, Jihyun was awarded Best Studio Professor of the Year from the College of Design at Iowa State University, as well as exemplary Faculty Mentor award from the Office of the Provost. She has taught a variety of subjects, such as core interior design content, design communicationand visualization, advanced color theory and application, design methods, professional development, seminars, and all levels of interior design studios including ideation, hospitality design, healthcare design, and residential design, plus guided senior and graduate thesis studies or design projects and research. She highlights her teaching approach to curriculum development that brings practitioners, educators and students together. Examples are an interdisciplinary healthcare design studio that she developed and was sponsored by the HDR Architecture, Inc. in Omaha, plus a health and well-being graduate practice studio at Marymount University sponsored by Waldon Studio Architects in Washington, D.C.
A strong advocate of interdisciplinary collaboration in design education, she is an active member of the IDEC, IIDA, and ASID, and serves on the Board of Directors for Interior Design Educators Council Foundation (IDECF).
Jihyun Song joins Drexel faculty with high expectations and appreciation to the University and Interior Design program.