UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State architecture alumnus John R. Hoke III, chief design officer at Nike Inc., will have a public conversation with B. Stephen Carpenter II, Michael J. and Aimee Rusinko Kakos Dean in the College of Arts and Architecture, at 10 a.m. Friday, May 5, in Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library, on the University Park campus. Co-sponsored by the College of Arts and Architecture, the College of the Liberal Arts, and the Smeal College of Business, the event also can be viewed on Zoom. Hoke, who was recently named a Penn State Distinguished Alumnus, is the College of Arts and Architecture’s spring 2023 commencement speaker.

As chief design officer, Hoke leads Nikeʼs global design team, which is responsible for envisioning the future of sport. He directs an international creative community of more than 1,000 designers charged with inspiring and innovating while designing hundreds of apparel and footwear styles each year.

Hoke promotes, speaks and writes about the power and possibility of design and creativity throughout the world. He is a permanent design fellow at Penn State, his alma mater; a member of MillerKnoll's board of directors; an adviser to Piaggio Fast Forward; and a trustee at Pacific Northwest College of Art. Hoke also served as national trustee of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

Prior to Nike, Hoke was a designer at Michael Graves Architecture & Design in Princeton, New Jersey. His work included architectural, industrial and graphic design for a wide variety of international clients. Michael Graves, the firm's founder, served as a personal mentor to Hoke until his death in 2015.

In addition to his bachelor of architecture degree from Penn State, Hoke holds a master of architecture degree from the University of Pennsylvania and MBA from Stanford University.