John Maeda, Ph.D., one of the pioneers in integrating technology and the visual arts, will give a presentation on “Creative Leadership” for the Assembly Series.
The program will begin at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4, in Graham Chapel and is free and open to the public.
Maeda’s talk also will serve as the keynote address for the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts conference, “Economies: Art+Architecture,” a joint conference of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture and the National Council of Art Administrators.
Named one of the 75 most influential people of the 21st century by Esquire magazine, Maeda has led the way in redefining the use of electronic media as a tool for creative expression.
The world-renowned artist and computer scientist is a strong advocate for simplicity in the digital age and for humanizing technology.
He created the “Design by Numbers” project, a global initiative to teach computer programming to visual artists through a freely available, customized software system that he designed.
One of his four books, “The Laws of Simplicity,” maps out his recipe for simplifying complex systems.
The longtime associate director of the famous Media Laboratory at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is now president of the Rhode Island School of Design.
His own work has been widely exhibited and can be found in many permanent collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Cartier Foundation in Paris.
In 2001, he earned the National Design Award in the United States; in 2002, the Mainichi Design Prize in Japan; and, in 2005, the Raymond Loewy Foundation Prize in Germany.
Maeda earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in computer science from MIT. He earned a doctoral degree in 1992 from the Tsukuba University Institute of Art and Design in Tsukuba, Japan. Maeda also earned a master’s degree in business administration from Arizona State University.
For more information, call 935-5285.