Arthur Siegel American, 1913-1978 Arthur Siegel is best known for his influential role as a teacher at the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology, in Chicago, and for his experimental approach to photography. Born in Detroit, he became interested in photography in 1927 and, after studies at the University of Michigan and Wayne State University, worked as a freelance photographer. In 1937 Siegel received a scholarship to study at László Moholy-Nagy's New Bauhaus in Chicago, where he created his first abstract photographs and established a longstanding relationship with the school. The following year he returned to Detroit and resumed his career as a commercial photographer. In 1942 Siegel was hired as a photographer for the Office of War Information by Roy Stryker, for whom he had worked briefly earlier at the Farm Security Administration. After two years of war service as a photographer at an air corps base in Illinois (1944-46), Siegel was invited by Moholy-Nagy to establish and direct the photography department at the New Bauhaus, now called the Institute of Design. Over the years he worked with Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind to develop one of the most influential photography programs in the country. In the mid-1950s and early 1960s, Siegel focused on photojournalism, producing pictures for Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated. He also became known for his skill as an architectural photographer and for his experiments with color photography. In the mid-1960s he returned to teaching full-time at the Institute of Design, becoming head of the photography program again in 1971. M.M.