Animation Powerhouse Headlines the 2026 Suraj Israni Memorial Lecture at UC San Diego

The Suraj Israni Center for Cinematic Arts together with Alumni Relations at UC San Diego proudly invite you to the 2026 Suraj Israni Memorial Lecture, featuring Emmy®-winning producer, studio builder, and UC San Diego alumna Marge Dean.

As Head of the Studio at Skybound Entertainment, Dean leads the development and production of original animated content and is building a new production facility behind major properties including Invincible for Amazon Prime. Renowned for designing and scaling animation studios and pipelines, her career spans leadership roles at Crunchyroll Studios, Warner Bros. Animation, Mattel, Technicolor, and more—shaping the future of animation at a global level.

Beyond the studio, Dean is a transformative industry advocate. As a leader of Women in Animation, she helped grow the organization into a world-class nonprofit reaching tens of thousands of animation professionals and students worldwide.

Don’t miss this opportunity to connect, network, and get inspired by a visionary who has turned bold ideas into industry-defining realities.

Bonus! Enjoy speaker artwork

A multimedia artist, Marge Dean has a new conceptual art exhibition titled "The Sweepers" and six pieces will be on display in the Mosaic lobby for viewing before and after the event. Each piece is built around the same concept: What would a world where housework is valued — and the women doing it recognized as creative visionaries — look like?

Visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2026-memorial-lecture-featuring-animation-executive-marge-dean-tickets-1977731827134?aff=kpbs

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