Born in the Detroit, Michigan area, Brigid O'Kane received her Associates Degree in Graphic Design from Macomb College, her BFA in Industrial Design from the College for Creative Studies in 1990, and her MFA in Drawing at the University of Cincinnati in 2005.

Since 2001 Brigid O’Kane has held the position of Field Service Associate Professor of Design in the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning. Professor O’Kane’s primary focus in the School of Design is Transportation Design, and she has recently finalized the establishment of a Transportation Design Track within the Industrial Design program at UC.

O’Kane came to UC following ten years working for General Motors as a Senior Lead Creative Designer. While at GM, she received a broad range of experience working in numerous brand character centers. She also worked at the General Motors Advanced Concept Center in California developing running prototypes of advanced concept vehicles. In 1998 she received the GM Award of Excellence for Outstanding Creativity and Leadership.

O'Kane has contributed extensively to several additional organizations such as Eyes on Design for the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology, Concept Cure, Women in Design and Design Educators Committee. Throughout her career Professor O’Kane has been actively teaching and tutoring at institutions such as the College for Creative Studies, Art Center College of Design, and the Cleveland Institute of Art. She has been featured in articles of several publications including USA Today, Car Styling, and an appearance on The Joan Lunden Show. She is now bringing her interest and study of Fine Art, her noteworthy experience in a mass-consumer oriented design field, and her expertise in the academic arena of design education to engage the arts in community service by serving on the board of directors of Manifest Creative Research Gallery and Drawing Center, a non-profit arts organization in Cincinnati which she co-founded in 2004.