NYSID History

A Record of Success for Nearly a Century

In many ways, NYSID's history is synonymous with the history of the design profession itself. Our school was founded by architect Sherrill Whiton in 1916, back when interior design was beginning to take shape as a distinct and recognized profession—one that required training in everything from art history to the play of light on walls and surfaces. (Whiton's textbook, Interior Design and Decoration, is still a design school standard today.) NYSID was chartered in 1924 by the New York State Board of Regents and has operated continuously for nearly one hundred years.   

In its early days NYSID was located in various buildings on Madison Avenue and in Midtown (the last, an impressive site on East 56th Street, designed by architect and faculty member William Breger), eventually settling down to its current location among the city's top fine art and antique dealers on East 70th Street in 1994. A major expansion and renovation—to NYSID's tandem building on East 69th Street—followed in the 1990s.

We've steadily graduated influential professional interior designers during our long tenure: from the Great Depression to the World War II years, not to mention the subsequent architectural boom in the '50s and '60s.  

By the time Jacqueline Kennedy was first lady—and first brought to national prominence the role of the interior designer with her renovation of the White House—we'd already been on the scene for four decades. In many ways, it's our firm foundation in the evolution of interior design's history that's allowed us to be its forerunner.

Today, we are firm believers in the importance of sustainability in materials and the construction of green buildings; in fostering the dialog between the fields of interior design and architecture; and in the future of accreditation standards in education and licensing of practitioners in the interior design profession. Thanks to the efforts of our esteemed faculty—and equally esteemed graduates—good interior design is a paradigm for good, healthy, sustainable life on the planet. And the skills of its professionals, are, more than ever, in demand.

Read our new strategic plan here.