John Maeda is a world-renowned artist, graphic designer, computer scientist and educator whose
career reflects his philosophy of humanizing technology. For more than a decade, he has worked
to synthesize technology, education and the arts into a 21st-century model for creativity and innovation.
As president of Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), a position he assumed in June, 2008, Maeda champions the vital role artists and designers play in fueling our contemporary creative economy. He sees RISD's emphasis on critical thinking and critical making - on making tangible objects by hand - as increasingly relevant in an overly digital world. As president, he is working to connect RISD to the political, economic, social and business spheres - areas where the untapped potential of artists and designers can make a difference. To ensure the broadest possible access to a RISD education, he has also made fundraising for scholarships a top priority.
Maeda's early work redefined the use of electronic media as a tool for expression by combining skilled computer programming with traditional artistic technique. This laid the groundwork for the interactive motion graphics that are prevalent on the web today. As a digital artist, Maeda has exhibited in well-received one-man shows in London, New York and Paris. His work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Cartier Foundation in Paris. He is a trustee of the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and currently serves as a Director for PopTech and on the Design Advisory Board for Proctor & Gamble. He has also designed advanced commercial projects for major corporations such as Cartier, Google, Philips, Reebok and Samsung, among others.
In 2008 Esquire magazine named Maeda one of the 75 most influential people of the 21st century. In 2001 he earned a National Design Award in the US; in 2002, the Mainichi Design Prize in Japan; and in 2005, the Raymond Loewy Foundation Prize in Germany.
A former professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Maeda taught media arts and sciences there for 12 years and served as associate director of research at the MIT Media Lab. He has published four books, with his most recent, The Laws of Simplicity, now translated into 14 languages. Maeda has lectured widely, including at Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, the Royal College of Art, Stanford and UCLA; at the Centre Pompidou, TED conferences and Walker Art Center; and for corporations such as Herman Miller, Sony, Steelcase, Toshiba and Yahoo!.
A native of Seattle, WA, Maeda earned both a bachelor's and a master's degree in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from MIT, followed by a PhD in Design Science from the University of Tsukuba Institute of Art and Design in Japan and an MBA from Arizona State University.
As president of Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), a position he assumed in June, 2008, Maeda champions the vital role artists and designers play in fueling our contemporary creative economy. He sees RISD's emphasis on critical thinking and critical making - on making tangible objects by hand - as increasingly relevant in an overly digital world. As president, he is working to connect RISD to the political, economic, social and business spheres - areas where the untapped potential of artists and designers can make a difference. To ensure the broadest possible access to a RISD education, he has also made fundraising for scholarships a top priority.
Maeda's early work redefined the use of electronic media as a tool for expression by combining skilled computer programming with traditional artistic technique. This laid the groundwork for the interactive motion graphics that are prevalent on the web today. As a digital artist, Maeda has exhibited in well-received one-man shows in London, New York and Paris. His work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Cartier Foundation in Paris. He is a trustee of the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and currently serves as a Director for PopTech and on the Design Advisory Board for Proctor & Gamble. He has also designed advanced commercial projects for major corporations such as Cartier, Google, Philips, Reebok and Samsung, among others.
In 2008 Esquire magazine named Maeda one of the 75 most influential people of the 21st century. In 2001 he earned a National Design Award in the US; in 2002, the Mainichi Design Prize in Japan; and in 2005, the Raymond Loewy Foundation Prize in Germany.
A former professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Maeda taught media arts and sciences there for 12 years and served as associate director of research at the MIT Media Lab. He has published four books, with his most recent, The Laws of Simplicity, now translated into 14 languages. Maeda has lectured widely, including at Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, the Royal College of Art, Stanford and UCLA; at the Centre Pompidou, TED conferences and Walker Art Center; and for corporations such as Herman Miller, Sony, Steelcase, Toshiba and Yahoo!.
A native of Seattle, WA, Maeda earned both a bachelor's and a master's degree in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from MIT, followed by a PhD in Design Science from the University of Tsukuba Institute of Art and Design in Japan and an MBA from Arizona State University.
On the Web
- Website: RISD
- Blog: Our (And Your) RISD
- Twitter: @johnmaeda
