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Ping Xu, MFA
Associate professor of Graphic Design,
UTRGV School of Art & Design
Master of Fine Arts, Visual Communications, Kansas State University
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Visual Communications, Illinois Institute of Art - Chicago
Associate of Applied Science, Shanghai Institue of Technology

Ping Xu was born and raised in Shanghai. Before joining the teaching industry in the U.S., he began his professional career and served as a graphic designer, an Art Director, a Creative Director, and a Production Director in the advertising industry for ten years. Ping has been teaching visual communication design courses at all levels in the U.S. academic domain since 2005. He joined The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Fall 2015.

Ping's expertise includes identity design, poster design, collateral design, advertising design, interactive design, digital photography, and typography. His research interest is to create visual concepts through practical experiments and contemporary media and deliver ideas that inspire, inform, and captivate consumers and target audiences.

Ping Xu received a total of twenty-two Bronze Awards in INDIGO Award International Design Annual Competitions 2018 in Amsterdam, 2019 in Malaga, 2020 in Bangkok, 2021 in Amsterdam, and one Silver Indigo Award in 2021 in Amsterdam. He received a total of seven Silver and Bronze Awards in the United Designs Alliance (UDA)'s International Annual Design competitions in Seoul 2018, 2019, 2020, and three Silver and Bronze Awards in the U.S. in 2021. In February 2020, Ping also received an Honorable Mention in 2019 London International Creative Competition (LICC). From 2007 to 2020, Ping received thirteen American Advertising Awards in ADDY Awards club competitions in Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas.

Ping's logo design was published in volume 12 of the LogoLounge Book Series in 2021. His ten graphic design and illustration works were published in Volume-IX, Volume-VII, and Volume-XI of the International Contemporary Artists book series in 2013, 2014, and 2016. His seven graphic design works were published in UDA Annual in 2018 and 2019.

Ping Xu initiated the Cross Connections International Design Exhibition and curated it in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2018. As an international exchange program, the visual communication juried exhibitions represented significant overviews of international graphic design trends, featuring faculty and students works from many international institutions making their marks in the Visual Communication field within their respective countries. The participating institutions in past years were selected from the United States, Germany, Russia, Belgium, South Africa, México, China, and Taiwan. In 2018, Ping curated the Cross Connections 2018 International Exhibition of Design & Illustration and collaborated with Brownsville Museum of Fine Art (BMFA) to showcase 96 works of visual communications and illustrations created by international faculty and students from ten participating institutions. They were School of The Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC); National Design Institute at Moscow, Russia (NDI); LUCA School of Arts, Belgium (LUCA); Central Academy of Fine Arts, China (CAFA); Luxun Academy of Fine Arts, China (LAFA); Shanghai University, China (SHU); The University of Texas Arlington (UTA); Ming Chuan University, Taiwan (MCU); and Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Morelos México (UAEM). The purpose of this exhibit was to give a cosmopolitan view of the most exciting new work in graphic media. Eight participating institutions exhibited the ninety-six works for about two weeks in their respective campuses.

Ping Xu is a member of the Art Directors Club, New York, a member of the Type Directors Club (TDC), New York, a member of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), and a member of the American Advertising Federation (AAF). Ping works as a freelancer to help design many pro bono works for local communities, non-profit organizations, national clients in the U.S., and international clients in China and Taiwan to maintain a professional practice.

Ping Xu has led Study Abroad trips since 2011. After joining UTRGV, he led UTRGV students to Mainland China for Study Abroad trips in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019, and led students to Taiwan after their main Study Abroad trips in the Chinese mainland in 2017 and 2018. Ping also coordinated and led UTRGV Graphic Design students to participate in an internship program through the UTRGV Study Abroad Asia program, enabling students to gain an edge in the competitive job market and explore Asia cultures. The collaborating internship companies were McCann and Leo Burnett in 2018 and Ogilvy and Saatchi & Saatchi in 2019. As the UTRGV Study Abroad Asia program faculty leader, Ping is currently preparing the new Asia trips in Korea, Japan, and Taiwan for the future.