This year, the Lifetime Achievement Award is bestowed upon celebrated design legend Eva Zeisel. Born in Budapest, Hungary, Zeisel's career is international in scope, spanning more than 75 years and 100,000 realized designs. Known for lyrical and shapely ceramics, she describes her approach to design as "the playful search for beauty." In 1946, she was the first designer in America to create an all-white Modern dinner service, which was honored with a special exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. She was also first to teach ceramics as industrial design, rather than handicraft, at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. At the age of 98, Zeisel is still designing for manufacturers such as Nambé, KleinReid, Acme, Crate & Barrel, and The Imperial Porcelain Factory in St. Petersburg, Russia.