FITC

JOHN MAEDA is a world-renowned graphic designer, visual artist, and computer scientist at the MIT Media Lab and is a founding voice for “simplicity” in the digital age.

Named by Esquire magazine as one of the 21 most important people in the 21st century, Maeda first made his mark by redefining the use of electronic media as a tool of expression for people of all ages and skills. He is the recipient of the highest career honors for design in the United States, Japan, and Germany, and serves on the board of trustees for the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. A faculty member at the Media Lab since 1996, Maeda holds the E. Rudge and Nancy Allen Professorship of Media Arts and Sciences and codirects the Lab’s design-oriented Physical Language Workshop and its SIMPLICITY consortium. He has had major exhibits of his work in Paris, London, New York, and Tokyo and has written several books on his philosophy of “humanizing technology” through his perspective on the digital arts.

Maeda received both his BS and MS degrees from MIT and earned his Ph.D. in design from Tsukuba University Institute of Art and Design in Japan. In May 2003, he received an honorary doctorate of fine arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Maeda is a sought-after lecturer on “simplicity” at major universities and boardrooms throughout the world. He lives with his wife, Kris, and their four daughters, Saaya, Naoko, Rie, and Mika, in Lexington, Massachusetts.