From Pasadena Design Student to Global CEO, an Alumnus Returns to ArtCenter’s Board

Royce Y.C. Hong left ArtCenter College of Design in 1994 with a degree in graphic and packaging design. Three decades later, he runs three companies across three industries on two continents — and now he is coming back.

ArtCenter, the Pasadena art and design college founded in 1930, has elected Hong to its Board of Trustees, the college announced Monday.

Hong is the founder and CEO of IPEVO Inc., a maker of communication devices used in American schools, and the founder and CEO of XING Mobility, a Taiwan-based company that develops immersion-cooled battery systems for electric vehicles and energy storage systems. He also serves as chairman of Panasonic Taiwan, a manufacturer of home appliances and electronic components.

“Royce’s career demonstrates the power of design to shape industries, create new opportunities and drive meaningful change and innovation,” ArtCenter President Karen Hofmann said in the announcement. “As an alumnus who has built successful companies, led global organizations and demonstrated a commitment to the arts, he will bring valuable perspective to the Board. We are delighted to welcome him back to ArtCenter in this new role.”

Hong’s appointment adds a figure with deep ties to Asia’s innovation and creative industries to the board of a Pasadena institution that is approaching its 100th anniversary in 2030. Board Chairman Michael Warsaw called Hong’s global perspective and insight into business and innovation in Asia an asset for the college.

“We are honored to have Royce join the Board of Trustees,” Warsaw said in the announcement. “His business experience, global perspective and insight into business and innovation in Asia will be an asset as we continue advancing the College’s mission and impact here and around the world.”

Hong’s career has traced a path from design education to entrepreneurship. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Graphic and Packaging Design from ArtCenter in 1994 and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Industrial Design from the Rhode Island School of Design. He went on to co-found Agenda Corporation, a Pan-Asia digital marketing agency that was later acquired by the WPP Group, before launching IPEVO and XING Mobility.

IPEVO, which ArtCenter described in its announcement as a maker of “design-driven AI-empowered communication devices,” produces document cameras and audio tools used in schools across the country, according to the press release. XING Mobility, founded in 2015 in Taipei, has developed a patented immersion-cooled battery system and in 2024 opened what the company described as the world’s first mass-production facility dedicated to that technology.

Beyond his corporate roles, Hong became chairman of the Hong Foundation in 2021. The foundation, established in 1971, has supported culture and the arts in Taiwan for more than five decades. He is a two-time TEDxTaipei speaker, author of the book Driven by Design, and a former columnist for Business Weekly Taiwan.

“ArtCenter laid the foundation for who I became, not only as a designer, but as a design-driven entrepreneur,” Hong said in the announcement. “In a world being reshaped by rapid technological change, design is becoming even more essential as the force that translates visionary ideas into the industries of the future. I’m honored to help ArtCenter deepen its global impact, especially by strengthening its connections with Asia’s innovation ecosystems.”

ArtCenter College of Design is located at 1700 Lida Street in Pasadena. The college offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs spanning industrial design, media and technology, and visual and applied arts. More information is available at artcenter.edu.