Richard Farson

Brief Biography

Dr. Richard Farson has led several organizations noted for their innovative programs in human affairs. As co-founder and president of the Western Behavioral Sciences Institute, he directs the Institute’s centerpiece program, the International Leadership Forum, an Internet based think tank composed entirely of highly influential leaders addressing the critical policy issues of our time.

Long interested in the field of design, he was the founding dean of the School of Design at the California Institute of the Arts, and a 30 year member of the Board of Directors of the International Design Conference in Aspen, of which he was president for seven years. In 1999 he was elected as the one Public Director (non-architect) to the national Board of Directors of the American Institute of Architects, and in 2001 was named a Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council.

A University of Chicago Ph.D. in psychology, he has been a Naval Officer, president of Esalen Institute, a faculty member of the Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center, and a Fellow on the Human Relations Faculty of the Harvard Business School.

He has authored several books, his newest being "The Power of Design: A Force for the Transformation of Everything." Earlier books are Science and Human Affairs, The Future of the Family, Birthrights, and more recently the critically acclaimed bestseller, Management of the Absurd: Paradoxes in Leadership, now published in 12 languages, and with co-author Ralph Keyes, Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins: The Paradox of Innovation. An article based on this book won the McKinsey award for the best Harvard Business Review article published in 2002, the one "most likely to have a major influence on managers worldwide."

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