Born: 1931

Education: Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York; Institute of Design, Chicago; Black Mountain College; Hochschule for Gestaltung Ulm, Germany

Currently resides: Los Angeles

Selected honors: Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, Bard College; Honorary Member, American Institute of Architects; Member, Alliance Graphique Internationale; National Board Member, AIGA; Founder, Board Member, and Fellow, AIGA, Los Angeles; Fellow, Society of Environmental Graphic Design

Deborah Sussman has enlarged the scale of graphic design, encompassing the built environment with a lively vocabulary of colors and forms. Her work on public spaces has involved her in significant collaborations with other designers, architects, planners, and artists.

Ms. Sussman began her career in the mid-1950s in the office of Charles and Ray Eames; her association with that office continued for many years. During those years, she also was a Fulbright Scholar in Germany and worked as a graphic designer in Milan and Paris. In 1968, she opened her own office in Los Angeles. The firm is now called Sussman/Prejza & Company, Inc., reflecting the involvement of Ms. Sussman’s husband, Paul Prejza.

The environmental graphics Sussman/Prejza & Company created for the look of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles had an enormous influence on the design world.