Dr. Susan Ray-Degges, a veteran design educator with more than three decades of experience shaping the interior design profession, has been named Trailblazer of the Year 2026 by the International Association of Top Professionals. The award, which will be presented at a ceremony at the Plaza Hotel in New York City in December 2026, recognizes a career that has bridged the gap between academic research and the practical demands of designing spaces that work for the people who inhabit them.
Dr. Ray-Degges serves as Program Coordinator and Professor in the Interior Design Program at North Dakota State University, a position from which she has influenced the trajectory of design education while maintaining an active research agenda focused on the real-world implications of how spaces are designed. Her specializations, which include environmental design, accessible living, and evidence-based design, represent the most consequential trends shaping the built environment industry today.
Evidence-based design, in particular, has moved from an academic concept to a competitive differentiator in sectors ranging from healthcare to corporate real estate. The premise is that design decisions should be grounded in empirical research on how physical environments affect human behavior, health outcomes, and productivity. In healthcare facilities, this has translated into measurable improvements in patient recovery times and staff efficiency. In office environments, it informs everything from lighting strategies to spatial layouts that support both focused work and collaboration.
Dr. Ray-Degges’s focus on accessible living connects to another powerful market force. The aging global population, combined with evolving regulatory requirements and shifting consumer expectations around universal design, has created substantial demand for design professionals who understand how to create spaces that are functional across the full spectrum of physical ability. This is not merely a compliance exercise; it represents a growing market opportunity for designers and developers who can deliver accessibility without sacrificing aesthetics or commercial viability.
Her academic credentials are extensive. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Missouri State University and both a master’s and a doctoral degree from the University of Missouri, a progression that reflects a systematic deepening of expertise in a field that has become increasingly research-intensive. The Trailblazer of the Year designation adds to a collection of professional recognitions that includes Top Professor of the Year, Empowered Woman of the Year, and selection among the Top 50 Fearless Leaders.
The accumulation of awards points to something beyond individual accomplishment. It reflects the growing recognition that design education, long treated as a secondary concern relative to architectural practice and real estate development, plays a critical role in shaping the professionals who will determine how the built environment evolves over the coming decades. The choices made in university design programs today about curriculum, research priorities, and pedagogical approach will influence the quality and functionality of the spaces built twenty years from now.
For the design industry, Dr. Ray-Degges’s recognition arrives at a moment of transition. The profession is grappling with how to integrate computational design tools, sustainability requirements, and the lessons of the remote-work era into its core practices. Educators who can prepare students for this shifting landscape, while grounding them in the research methodologies that ensure design decisions are defensible and effective, are increasingly valuable.
North Dakota State University’s design program, under Dr. Ray-Degges’s leadership, has positioned itself as a contributor to the national conversation about what design education should look like in an era of rapid change. The Trailblazer designation is, in this context, as much a recognition of institutional direction as it is of individual achievement.
The December ceremony will bring together professionals from across industries, but for the design community, Dr. Ray-Degges’s selection sends a clear signal that the field’s future leaders will be those who can combine creative vision with rigorous, evidence-driven methodology. In a profession where the stakes, measured in human health, productivity, and wellbeing, are higher than they have ever been, that combination is no longer optional.
