Robert Prouse has a background in theatrical lighting design and illuminating engineering, and he has held key positions with several industry organizations.
Mr. Prouse has been a member of the International Association of Lighting Designers since 1977, for which he has served on the Membership Committee, the Board of Directors and as a judge for the Lighting Design Awards program. He has been a member of the Illuminating Engineering Society since 1975 and has served on various committees; most recently he became a Fellow of that organization. He has been “Lighting Certified” by the National Council on Qualifications for the Lighting Professions, and was the first chair of the Body of Knowledge sub-committee for the NCQLP. He has served on panels for LightFair, Designers' Lighting Forum, Lighting World International, and the IESNA. He wrote the Lighting Chapter of the current edition of Architectural Graphic Standards.
Mr. Prouse also has extensive teaching experience. He taught lighting design in the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation of Columbia University for five years and in the Graduate Design Department of Pratt Institute for seven years. Mr. Prouse was the Director of the MA and MFA programs in Lighting Design at the Parsons School of Design in New York City for seven years, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1979.
He received his Bachelor of Arts in English at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, with a minor in Theatre. He worked for several years thereafter as a theatrical lighting designer, and became a member of the United Scenic Artists and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. He then received his Master of Architecture at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he also did extensive course work in illuminating engineering.