Gary Cleveland was one of five inductees announced at a ceremony in Melbourne on June 9.

The now retired design entrepreneur said he felt validated for putting his faith in Tasmania’s design industry.

“When I first started the Design Centre in 1976, the word design wasn’t used outside of hair or cars,’ he said.

“I wanted to make it more commonly used by creating an industry based on innovation.”

Born in St Louis, Missouri USA, Mr Cleveland worked as a textile designer in Queensland and Britain before being appointed as managing director and acting chairman of Kelsall and Kemp in Launceston.

After tariff reduction led to the decline of Australia's textile industry in the 1970s, Cleveland founded the Design Centre of Tasmania in Launceston to promote and market the work of the state's designers. 

He was also responsible for establishment of the Tasmanian Wood Design Collection, which he arranged to be exhibited internationally in New York, Germany, Sweden and Finland.

Mr Cleveland said the work of Tasmanians with wood was unique in a design sense.

“It was the perfect combination of natural resources with human skill and imagination.”

In 2002, Mr Cleveland sold the Design Tasmania to a trust with the Wood Design Collection as the sole beneficiary

It remains one of only places in the world dedicated to design.