John Seely Brown (born 1940), also known as "JSB", is an American researcher who specializes in

organizational studies Organization studies (also called organization science or organizational studies) is the academic field interested in a ''collective activity, and how it relates to organization, organizing, and management''. It is "the examination of how individua ...

with a particular bend towards the organizational implications of computer-supported activities. Brown served as Director of

Xerox PARC PARC (Palo Alto Research Center; formerly Xerox PARC) is a research and development company in Palo Alto, California. Founded in 1969 by Jacob E. "Jack" Goldman, chief scientist of Xerox Corporation, the company was originally a division of Xero ...

from 1990 to 2000 and as Chief Scientist at

Xerox Xerox Holdings Corporation (; also known simply as Xerox) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (ha ...

from 1992 to 2002; during this time the company played a leading role in the development of numerous influential computer technologies. Brown is the co-author of ''

The Social Life of Information ''The Social Life of Information'' is a 2000 book by John Seely Brown (the former Chief Scientist of Xerox Corporation and director of Xerox PARC) and Paul Duguid (Adjunct professor at the UC Berkeley School of Information), which discusses recent ...

,'' a 2000 book which analyzes the adoption of information technologies.

Early life

John Seely Brown was born in 1940 in

Utica, New York Utica () is a Administrative divisions of New York, city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The List of cities in New York, tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 ...

. Brown graduated from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

in 1962 with degrees in physics and mathematics. He received a Ph.D. from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in computer and communication sciences in 1970.

Career

His research interests include the management of radical innovation,

digital culture Internet culture is a culture based on the many way people have used computer networks and their use for communication, entertainment, business, and recreation. Some features of Internet culture include online communities, gaming, and social media ...

ubiquitous computing Ubiquitous computing (or "ubicomp") is a concept in software engineering, hardware engineering and computer science where computing is made to appear anytime and everywhere. In contrast to desktop computing, ubiquitous computing can occur using a ...

, autonomous computing and

organizational learning Organizational learning is the process of creating, retaining, and transferring knowledge within an organization. An organization improves over time as it gains experience. From this experience, it is able to create knowledge. This knowledge is bro ...

. JSB is also the namesake of John Seely Brown Symposium on Technology and Society, held at the

University of Michigan School of Information The University of Michigan School of Information (UMSI or iSchool) is the informatics and information science school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It offers baccalaureate, magisterial, and doc ...

. The first JSB symposium in 2000 featured a lecture by

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

Professor of Law

Lawrence Lessig Lester Lawrence Lessig III (born June 3, 1961) is an American academic, attorney, and political activist. He is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and the former director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard ...

, titled "Architecting Innovation," and a panel discussion, "The Implications of Open Source Software," featuring Brown, Lessig and the William D. Hamilton Collegiate Professor of Complex Systems at SI, Michael D. Cohen. Subsequent events were held in 2002, 2006 and 2008. He has held several positions and roles, including: * Independent co-chair of the

Deloitte Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of profession ...

Center for Edge Innovation (present) * Senior fellow,

Annenberg Center for Communication The Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy (CCLP) at the University of Southern California promotes interdisciplinary research in communications between the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Viterbi School of Engineering, and the separate ...

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

(present) * Chief scientist of

Corporation (1992 – April 2002) * Director of the

research center (1990 – June 2000) * Cofounder of the

Institute for Research on Learning The Institute for Research on Learning (IRL) in Palo Alto, California was co-founded by John Seely Brown, then chief research scientist at the Palo Alto Research Center, and James Greeno, Professor of Education at Stanford University, with the supp ...

* Board member of multiple companies, including

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

, Corning,

MacArthur Foundation The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private foundation that makes grants and impact investments to support non-profit organizations in approximately 50 countries around the world. It has an endowment of $7.0 billion and p ...

and

Polycom Poly, formerly Polycom, a part of HP Inc., is an American multinational corporation that develops video, voice and content collaboration and communication technology. Polycom was co-founded in 1990 by Brian L Hinman and Jeffrey Rodman. In 2018 ...

* Advisory board member of several private companies, including

Innovation Exchange Innovation Exchange Inc. (IX) was an open innovation vendor. IX operates a website which acts as a platform for companies and non-profit organizations to present innovation challenges to a community of innovators. This community is constituted of ...

and H5 * Former board member of

In-Q-Tel In-Q-Tel (IQT), formerly Peleus and In-Q-It, is an American not-for-profit venture capital firm based in Arlington, Virginia. It invests in high-tech companies to keep the Central Intelligence Agency, and other intelligence agencies, equipped with ...

Honors

IRI Medal The IRI Medal, established by the Industrial Research Institute (IRI) in 1946, recognizes and honors leaders of technology for their outstanding accomplishments in technological innovation which contribute broadly to the development of industry and ...

from the

Industrial Research Institute Innovation Research Interchange (IRI) is a division of the National Association of Manufacturers, a nonprofit association based in Washington, D. C., United States. IRI was founded as a private non-profit in 1938 and merged with the NAM in 2022. IR ...

, 1999 *

Design Futures Council The Design Futures Council is an interdisciplinary network of design, product, and construction leaders exploring global trends, challenges, and opportunities to advance innovation and shape the future of the industry and environment. Members inclu ...

Senior Fellow

Honorary degrees

Publications

* John Seely Brown, Douglas Thomas, ''A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change'', CreateSpace 2011. . * John Seely Brown, Foreword, in: Toru Iiyoshi M.S. Vijay Kumar, ''Opening Up Education: The Collective Advancement of Education through Open Technology, Open Content, and Open Knowledge'', The MIT Press 2010. . * John Seely Brown,

John Hagel III John Hagel (or John Hagel III) is a management consultant and author. Hagel has spent over 40 years in Silicon Valley. He is the founder of two technology startups and served as the Senior Vice President for Strategic Planning at Atari, Inc. He s ...

, Lang Davison, ''The Power of Pull: How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things In Motion'',

Basic Books Basic Books is a book publisher founded in 1950 and located in New York, now an imprint of Hachette Book Group. It publishes books in the fields of psychology, philosophy, economics, science, politics, sociology, current affairs, and history. H ...

2010. . * John Seely Brown,

, ''How World Of Warcraft Promotes Innovation''; in:

Willms Buhse Willms Buhse (born 3 November 1970 in Langenhagen, Germany) is a German entrepreneur, author, speaker and consultant based in Hamburg. His work focuses on digital leadership and digital transformation, covering also the people-centric aspects o ...

Ulrike Reinhard Ulrike Reinhard (born 1960) is a German publisher, author, digital nomad and futurist. She is best known for her skatepark in Madhya Pradesh, Janwaar Castle. Reinhard has also been editor of ''WE Magazine'' and has written for ''Think Quarterly''. ...

: Wenn Anzugträger auf Kapuzenpullis treffen (When Suits meet Hoodies), whois-Verlag 2009. . * John Seely Brown,

, ''The Only Sustainable Edge: Why Business Strategy Depends On Productive Friction And Dynamic Specialization'', Harvard Business Review Press 2005. . * John Seely Brown, Stephen Denning, Katalina Groh, Laurence Prusak, ''Storytelling in Organizations: Why Storytelling Is Transforming 21st Century Organizations and Management'', Butterworth-Heinemann 2004. . * John Seely Brown,

, ''Out of The Box: Strategies for Achieving Profits Today and Growth Tomorrow Through Web Services'', Harvard Business Press 2002. * John Seely Brown, Paul Duguid, ''

'', Harvard Business Review Press 2000. . * John Seely Brown (Ed.), ''Seeing Differently: Insights on Innovation'', Harvard Business Press 1997. * John Seely Brown, ''Research that Reinvents the Corporation'',

Harvard Business Review ''Harvard Business Review'' (''HBR'') is a general management magazine published by Harvard Business Publishing, a wholly owned subsidiary of Harvard University. ''HBR'' is published six times a year and is headquartered in Brighton, Massach ...

1991. * John Seely Brown, D. Sleemann (Eds.), ''Intelligent Tutoring Systems'', Academic Press 1982. * More than 100 papers in academic journals

Translated work

* John Seely Brown, Douglas Thomas, ''Yeni nesil öğrenme kültürü: Sürekli değişen bir dünya için hayal gücü yetiştirmek'' (H. Uysal, Ed. & Trans.; A. Sığın, İ. Çelik, H. Çakmakcı, M. Özdemir, S. Bilgin, & A. Güven, Trans.), Pegem Akademi 2016 (Original work published 201

References

External links

John Seely Brown's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, John Seely Living people 21st-century American engineers Ubiquitous computing researchers Human–computer interaction researchers University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni Amazon (company) people 1940 births Scientists at PARC (company) Brown University alumni