PROVIDENCE — After a yearlong search, the Rhode Island School of Design has named John Maeda, a prominent artist, designer and educator who is currently the associate director of research at the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as the school’s 16th president.

Maeda, 41, will succeed Roger Mandle, who is leaving the school in May after 15 years as RISD president.

A Seattle native, Maeda brings a wealth of experience to one of the state’s most high-profile arts jobs. As an artist, his digital and multimedia artworks have been widely exhibited and are included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, in New York, and the Cartier Foundation, in Paris. As a designer, his list of clients has included Sony, Reebok, Samsung and Google.

Since 1996, Maeda has been a professor at MIT, where his duties include managing research partnerships at the MIT Media Lab, an academic think-tank devoted to integrating art, design and technology. In 2001, he won a National Design Award from the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. And in 2005, he was awarded the Raymond Loewy Foundation Prize for excellence in design.

As an author, Maeda has published four books, including “The Laws of Simplicity,” a 2006 essay collection that has become a standard reference work for digital-age artists and designers. In 1999, Esquire magazine named Maeda one of the 21st century’s “21 most important people.”

“Basically, we liked everything about him,” said BankRI chief executive officer Merrill Sherman, who chaired the search committee that selected Maeda. “He’s an accomplished artist and designer. He’s a distinguished author and academic. And he has the kind of creative vision that RISD needs.”

Sherman said committee members were particularly impressed by Maeda’s ability to move easily between the often disparate fields of art, business and technology.

“Let’s face it — the world is changing very quickly,” Sherman said.

“Almost every day you hear about new advances in technology, science, art — you name it. To find someone, like John, who has a deep understanding of all these areas is great for RISD and great for Rhode Island.”

In an interview yesterday, Maeda said he was still in “a state of blissful shock” at being named RISD president.

“RISD is such a mythical place, especially among artists, that I’m still sort of pinching myself,” he said.

“I keep thinking that I’ll wake up and find out that it was all a dream.”

Maeda, who will take up his new post in June, said he would spend his first few months “listening and learning” before undertaking any major initiatives.

“Basically, I’m coming to RISD as a freshman,” he said. “Like any freshman, I’ll undergo a period of orientation during which I’ll get to know the institution, the faculty and the students. Then, once I have a sense of where the school is right now, we can start talking about where to take it in the future.”

Maeda’s arrival — and Mandle’s departure — come at busy time for RISD.

Next fall, the school expects to open its new Chace Center, a sleekly contemporary classroom and studio complex on North Main Street. The $43-million project, which also includes new gallery and office space for the RISD Museum, was designed by prize-winning Spanish architect Rafael Moneo.

The school also recently completed a multimillion-dollar renovation of the former Rhode Island Hospital Trust Building at 15 Westminster St. The renovations include a state-of-the-art library on the ground floor and housing for 500 graduate and undergraduate students on the upper floors.

Both projects are part of a wide array of changes — physical, financial and educational — that have taken place at RISD during Mandle’s 15-year tenure.

No longer an exclusively East Side institution, RISD has gone on a buying spree in recent years, acquiring property along North and South Main streets and expanding deep into downtown. In addition to the former Hospital Trust headquarters, the school owns the former Mason Building at 169 Weybosset St., which now houses RISD’s digital arts program and its Center for Integrative Technologies.

Last month, the school made news when the Charlotte Observer reported that Mandle and other RISD officials were considering opening a satellite campus in Charlotte, N.C.

An energetic fundraiser, Mandle is also credited with improving the school’s financial condition. Since arriving at RISD from the National Gallery of Art in 1993, Mandle has boosted the school’s endowment from $67 million to more than $360 million — an increase of more than 500 percent.

More broadly, Mandle has helped transform RISD from a funky-hip art school with a limited reputation into an international art and design powerhouse. At the same time, he’s been one of the state’s most influential voices arguing for increased support for local artists and arts groups.

But Mandle’s reputation has also taken some hits in recent years.

Plans for the Chace Center, for example, have raised the ire of some East Side residents, who say the building’s starkly contemporary design clashes with the area’s historic architecture. And last fall, long-simmering strains between RISD’s faculty and administration resulted in a no-confidence vote from the union representing RISD’s tenured faculty.

Asked if the 41-year-old Maeda is ready for the job, Sherman exuded confidence.

“Absolutely, he’s ready,” she said.

“During our search, we had several meetings with all the top candidates, and John always came through with flying colors. In a sense, he made our job easy.”

Certainly, Maeda comes to RISD with an impressive resume.

According to a biographical sketch provided yesterday, Maeda has had one-man exhibits in Paris, London and New York. He’s also worked as a designer and design consultant for a wide range of businesses. In addition to his teaching and administrative duties at MIT, Maeda also oversees corporate relationships for the MIT Media Lab. In that capacity, he has worked with a corporate Who’s Who that includes Target, Google, Apple Computer, Samsung and Toshiba.

Maeda’s educational record is equally impressive. He has undergraduate and graduate degrees at MIT in computer science and electrical engineering. He has an MBA from Arizona State University, a doctorate from the University of Tsukuba Institute of Art and Design in Japan and an honorary doctorate from the Maryland Institute of Contemporary Art.

At the same time, Maeda is proud of his working-class roots. In fact, during yesterday’s interview, he made of point mentioning his parents, who run a family tofu-making business in Seattle.

“I know what’s it’s like to have to work hard to make ends meet,” he said. “Granted, tofu-making isn’t the world’s most dangerous occupation, but still demands a lot of time and attention. And if you don’t do it right, you don’t eat.”

Maeda lives in Cambridge, Mass., with his wife and five daughters.

bvansicl@projo.com