John Maeda

John’s work put KPCB on the map as a leader in business and technology design and demonstrated the economic impact of design in corporations. At the start of 2015, Fast Company named KPCB one of the ten most innovative companies in design—a position fortified by John’s subsequent launching of the “#DesignInTech Report,” which covers venture capital funding and M&A activity for design in the technology industry.

John began his career in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT and proceeded to integrate formal design training into his technical background. While the web was being built in the 1990s, John led a research team at the MIT Media Lab to connect design with computer science, fostering the first generation of engineers who could elegantly design, and designers who could fluently code. He later became the 16th President of Rhode Island School of Design, where as chief executive he brought technology industry partnerships, lean operations management, and a relentless focus on diversity to help the institution regain its former leading position in the new economy. During his presidency, he received the Tribeca Film Festival’s Disruptive Innovation Award for catalyzing the national movement to transform STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) into STEAM by adding art as a priority area.

John currently serves on the Board of Directors for wireless hi-fi innovator Sonos and the global advertising firm Wieden+Kennedy. He is also a member of the Technical Advisory Board for Google’s Advanced Technology + Projects Group and the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on New Growth Models. Most recently he was advisor to John Donahoe, CEO of eBay Inc., where John facilitated the advancement of eBay Inc.’s design culture at scale—that work culminated in a forthcoming Stanford GSB case study.

John received his BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT, with his MS thesis entitled “Concurrent Sparse Matrix Equation Solver for Three-dimensional Semiconductor Simulation.” He earned an MBA from Arizona State University and a PhD from the University of Tsukuba in Japan. He was awarded honorary doctorates in Fine Arts from Maryland Institute College of Art and Simon Fraser University, and was the recipient of the White House’s National Design Award, the Blouin Foundation’s Creative Leadership Award, the AIGA Medal, the Raymond Loewy Foundation Prize, the Mainichi Design Prize, the Tokyo Type Director’s Club Prize, and induction into the Art Director’s Club Hall of Fame. John’s early work for print and the computer was accessioned into the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, and his contemporary art has been showcased in solo exhibitions in Paris, Los Angeles, Tokyo, London, San Francisco, and NYC. John can be found on Twitter discussing technology, business and design at @johnmaeda, one of TIME Magazine’s 140 Best Twitter Feeds.