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Ford Design VP Jack Telnack to Retire, Ending a Career of Nearly 40 Years

15 September 1997

Ford Design VP Jack Telnack to Retire, Ending a Career of Nearly 40 Years

    DEARBORN, Mich., Sept. 15 -- Jack Telnack, vice president -
Corporate Design, has elected to retire at the end of the year, Ford Chairman
Alex Trotman announced.  "We are grateful for Jack's outstanding contribution
to Ford's product design over the years," Trotman said.  "His talents have
been recognized far beyond Ford."
    Telnack, 60,  was elected a corporate vice president to head Ford's
global design organization in June 1987.  Previously, he was chief
design executive for Ford North American Automotive Operations.  He headed the
team that developed the company's aero look -- a ground-breaking new concept
of aerodynamic design embodied in the 1983 Ford Thunderbird, as well as the
1986 Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable.  Aero design played a major role in the
sales success of Ford and Lincoln-Mercury products in the '80s and '90s and
has since been copied by nearly every automaker in the world.  The New York
Times summed it up this way in 1987:  "The aero look -- with its sweeping
lines and fuselage-like curves -- has made John J. Telnack one of the most
influential designers Detroit has seen since Harley Earl introduced the
'Torpedo Look' in 1940 ..."
    Recently, Telnack's teams introduced New Edge design, an evolution of aero
design in which a vehicle's soft, sculpted forms intersect in sharp lines that
delineate its shape.  The Ford Ka and Puma are examples of New Edge, as are a
series of concept cars -- including Lincoln Sentinel, Mercury MC4 and Mercury
MC2 -- that explore the application of this design philosophy on a variety of
vehicles.
    Telnack joined Ford as a designer in 1958 after graduating from Art Center
College in Pasadena, Calif.  As a designer in the Ford Division styling
studio, he worked with vehicle design teams on a number of projects, including
the original Ford Mustang.  In 1965, he became head stylist at the Lincoln-
Mercury styling studio.  He served as chief designer of Ford of Australia from
1966 to 1969 and in 1974 became vice president of Design for Ford of Europe.
    He was appointed executive director of North American Light Car and Truck
Design in 1976 and became executive director of North American Mid-Size Car
and Interior Design in 1978.  He has been the recipient of numerous design
awards and was named Automotive Industries 1989 Man-of-the-Year.
    He is the recipient of honorary degrees from Pratt Institute, Parsons
School of Design and the Art Center College of Design.

SOURCE  Ford Motor Company

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