Warren MacKenzie

Doctor of Humane Letters

College of Liberal Arts, May 11, 2015

Regents Professor Emeritus Warren MacKenzie, nationally and internationally renowned artist and educator, worked as the first American apprentice with potter Bernard Leach at St. Ives, England from 1950-1952 before joining the faculty at the University of Minnesota in 1953. He went on to teach in the Department of Art at the University of Minnesota for 37 years. He has influenced thousands of University students through his teaching and as a mentor. He has championed the ceramic arts for over 60 years with his work being included in over 270 exhibitions and collected by museums worldwide. In 1981, Ceramic Monthly Magazine named him as one of the world’s best potters. MacKenzie is a Fellow of the International Academy of Ceramics, and was the first to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Minnesota Crafts Council in 1997. In 1998, he was honored with the Gold Medal from the American Crafts Council. In 1999, he received the Distinguished Artist Award from the McKnight Foundation. MacKenzie has spent his entire life in Stillwater, Minnesota, where he continues to live and work at the age of 90.