FIYou profile: Oscar Negret


Name: Oscar Negret

Hometown: Bogotá, Colombia

Job Title/Department: Senior Designer, Office of Publications

Campus: University Park

In a nutshell: I’m responsible for creating and producing high-quality design and visual communication pieces to promote FIU, its brand and its programs and departments.

Number of years at FIU: Almost six.

What do you enjoy most about your job? Creativity and the fact that I have new challenges every day. And, of course, my team. I love them all.

What do you think faculty/staff and students should know about your department? That we are professionals and we are here to help them craft their message and image to better serve the university community.

Where is your favorite spot on campus? We have a beautiful campus with lots of green areas, but if I have to choose one specific spot I would say the lake and the bridge between the Green Library and the Ryder building.

Why? I love nature and when I bring my son to campus we go there to watch the fish and turtles.

If there is one thing you wish everyone knew about FIU, what would it be? FIU has the best of both worlds: We are a fine academic institution with an impressive record despite our youth and we are also at the heart of one of the most vibrant and exploding metropolitan areas of the country. FIU is a vital part of what Miami is.

Family snapshot: We are another version of “The Incredibles.” My son Sebastian is as hyperactive as Dash – he is the next super-entrepreneur and proud owner of his own lemonade stand. My daughter Angelia now is like Invisible Girl since she has moved to live on campus at University Park to study business. We rarely see her now. My beloved wife Jackie is like Elastigirl – she stretches the home budget every month like nobody else and she always reaches the impossible. Then me, well…I’m not Mr. Incredible in this version of the story – I have muscles, but not fully developed and my strength comes from the love I have for my family.

Word that best describes you: Open. To be an artist you better be open. I believe “open” is synonymous with creative.

First paying job: Assistant photographer at my brother’s studio.

Favorite TV show: “20/20” and Bill Maher and Bill Moyer specials.

Your proudest accomplishment: Today I have to say my daughter, who graduated from the international baccalaureate program and is a College of Business Administration freshman here at FIU.

What do you do when you are not working at FIU? I love art and I’m always doing something. I’m preparing an exhibit of my latest work of digital art, exploring volume and space, this time printed on aluminum. I hope to be ready to show them within six months.

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