A teacher and former board member of the Lawrence Arts Center will serve as the organization’s interim leader.

The Lawrence Arts Center announced Thursday that Thomas Huang will serve as the interim executive director while the nonprofit organization seeks a replacement for its previous director who resigned last month.

Huang is an associate professor at the University of Kansas’ industrial design program and is an expert in furniture design. Huang is taking a leave of absence from KU to focus on the leadership duties at the Arts Center, according to a press release.

“I am extremely excited to be working closely with the incredible staff that constitutes the Lawrence Arts Center,” Huang said in a release. “Their dedication to this community organization — and the work of those who have come before — have made this important 50-year old organization a vibrant, creative, joyful and highly significant part of that fabric that is Lawrence, Kansas.”

Huang has had multiple connections with the Arts Center since arriving in Kansas in 2002. He’s served on the board of directors for the organization, has frequently been a participating artist in the Lawrence Arts Center Auction and currently is the instructor of a popular hand-carved wooden spoon class that is offered at LAC.

“His passion for community work and respect from both the staff and the board make him an ideal person to guide LAC during this transition time,” Board Chair Meredith Lang said in a press release.

Huang has been teaching in KU’s industrial design program, which is part of the School of Architecture and Design, for the past 22 years. He’s also had an accomplished design career in the San Francisco and Oakland area, conducting architectural installation work for Disney Imagineering, Sun Microsystems, Wolfgang Puck Spago Restaurants, and Sony Entertainment. His furniture and sculptural work also have been exhibited nationally.