Donald Friedlich uses a wide range of materials in his jewelry, such as slate, glass, gold, and diamonds. His current work in "site-adaptive jewelry" exploits the optical qualities of glass so that the jewelry changes with the clothing on which it is worn. Friedlich is also interested in the creative adaptation of industrial technologies such as electroforming, laser cutting, CNC, and rapid prototyping.

Friedlich served a term as president of the Society of North American Goldsmiths, and his work is in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and many others. He holds a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design. His awards include a National Endowment for the Arts New England Regional Fellowship. He has been an artist in residence at the Corning Museum of Glass, New York; Canberra School of Art, Australia; and Tainan National University of the Arts, Taiwan.

The Design and Craft Lecture Series is funded by the Wornick Endowment Fund.