 He became the president of the American Designers' Institute (later Industrial Designers Institute) in 1938 - 1941 leading and growing the organization, adding members like Kem Weber, Eva Zeisel, Walter von Nessen, Alfons Bach, and Belle Kogan.In 1952, Vassos along with fellow American Design Institute colleagues Alexander Kostellow, László Moholy-Nagy and others, developed a prototype for a four-year industrial design education, which was grounded in the Bauhaus School design principles.This set the standard for collegiate industrial design education.