Wayne Cherry to receive EyesOn Design Lifetime Design Achievement Award

Wayne Cherry has been chosen by a panel of his fellow designers as the winner of the EyesOn Design 2013 Lifetime Design Achievement Award.

Cherry, who spent his entire design career at GM, joined the company in 1962 after graduating from Art Center and was part of the team that designed the 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado and the 1967 Chevrolet Camaro.

In 1965 He was transferred to GM's British operations, Vauxhall, and led the design work on the XVR Concept and designed the SRV and the 1978 Equus. He was named Director of Design in 1975.

In 1983 Cherry became Director of Design at GM's Opel Design Center in Germany and oversaw the design of the Opel Junior concept, which influenced the 1993 Corsa.

He was also responsible for the 1987 Omega – named European Car of the Year – as well as the 1991 Vectra, the 1995 Astra, the 1996 Omega and two sporty models – the Calibra coupe and Tigra.

Cherry returned to America in 1991 and was named only the fifth Vice President of Design in General Motors' history in 1992 and was responsible for all of GM's North American brands – Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Saturn and Hummer.

Under his leadership the brands produced the Pontiac Solstice, the C5/C6 Corvettes, the H2 Hummer, the Chevy SSR and more than 40 concept vehicles, among them the Cadillac Evoq, Cien and the 2003 Cadillac Sixteen.

He was also responsible for the creation of Cadillac's 'Art and Science' design philosophy of sharp lines and taut surfaces, which is still visible in today's models.

Cherry retired from GM in 2004 but continued to design cars, including the VSR Concept Sports rod.

Only vehicle designers who have previously won the award are allowed to vote, with this year's panel including Chris Bangle, Walter de'Silva, Tom Gale, Giorgetto Giugiaro, Chuck Jordan, Robert Lutz, Shiro Nakamura, Chuck Pelly, Sergio Pininfarina and Jack Telnack.

The 2013 Lifetime Design Achievement Award will be presented to Cherry next June during the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology's EyesOn Design week of activities on the grounds of the lakefront Edsel & Eleanor Ford House.

By Rufus Thompson