David M. Kelley (born February 10, 1951) is an American engineer, designer, entrepreneur, businessman, and educator. He is

co-founder An organizational founder is a person who has undertaken some or all of the formational work needed to create a new organization, whether it is a business, a charitable organization, a governing body, a school, a group of entertainers, or any othe ...

of the design firm

IDEO IDEO () is a design and consulting firm with offices in the U.S., England, Germany, Japan, and China. It was founded in Palo Alto, California, in 1991. The company's 700 staff uses a design thinking approach to design products, services, enviro ...

and a professor at Stanford University. He has received several honors for his contributions to design and design education.

Personal life

Kelley was born in

Barberton, Ohio Barberton is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 26,550 at the 2010 census. Lying directly southwest of Akron, it is a suburb of the Akron metropolitan area. History Barberton was founded in 1891 by industrialist O ...

, and is the brother of Tom Kelley, the general manager of IDEO and author of ''The Art of Innovation'' and ''The Ten Faces of Innovation''. He earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in 1973, where he was a member of the

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Alpha Epsilon (), commonly known as SAE, is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama on March 9, 1856. Of all existing national social fraternities today, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is t ...

fraternity. He later completed a master's degree in design at Stanford University in 1977. He is married to Katharine C. Branscomb, a former CEO of IntelliCorp, whom he met through mutual friend Steve Jobs.

Work in industry

Kelley began work as an engineer, first at

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...

and later at NCR. At Boeing, he was responsible for the design of the Lavatory Occupied sign for the 747 airplane. This experience led him to return to school. In 1977, he earned his master's degree from the Joint Program in Design at Stanford University, popularly called the Product Design program. In 1978, he partnered with another Stanford Product Design graduate, Dean Hovey, to form Hovey-Kelley Design. Hovey left to pursue other interests and the firm was renamed "David Kelley Design" (DKD). In 1984, he co-founded Onset Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm. He also co-founded Edge Innovations, the special-effects company responsible for the whales in the ''

Free Willy ''Free Willy'' is a 1993 American family drama film, directed by Simon Wincer, produced by Lauren Shuler Donner and Jennie Lew Tugend, written by Keith A. Walker and Corey Blechman from a story by Walker and distributed by Warner Bros. Picture ...

'' movies, among many other film credits. In 1991, Kelley merged DKD with three other design firms ( Mike Nuttall's Matrix Product Design in Palo Alto, ID TWO in San Francisco, and Moggridge Associates in London, the latter two founded by

Bill Moggridge William Grant Moggridge, RDI (25 June 1943 – 8 September 2012) was an English designer, author and educator who cofounded the design company IDEO and was director of the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York. He was a pionee ...

) to create IDEO, which he ran as CEO until 2000.

Work as an educator

Kelley began teaching in the Stanford Product Design program in 1978, after earning his master's. He was briefly a PhD student. In 1990, he became a tenured professor, and was named the Donald W. Whittier Professor in Mechanical Engineering in 2002. In 2004, Kelley led the creation of the

Hasso Plattner Institute of Design The Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford, commonly known as the d.school, is a design thinking institute based at Stanford University. David M. Kelley and Bernard Roth founded the program. According to the ''New York Times'', the d.scho ...

at Stanford University, known as the "d.school." For his contributions to the practice and study of design, Kelley has been awarded honorary doctorate degrees from Carnegie Mellon University, Dartmouth and

ArtCenter College of Design Art Center College of Design (stylized as ArtCenter College of Design) is a private art college in Pasadena, California. History ArtCenter College of Design was founded in 1930 in downtown Los Angeles as the Art Center School. In 1935, Fred ...

Books, talks, and honors

David Kelley has been recognized as one of America's leading design innovators. In 2020, he received the Bernard M. Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education from the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...

“for formalizing the principles and curriculum of ‘design thinking’ to develop innovative engineering leaders with empathy and creative confidence to generate high-impact solutions.” In 2019, he was conferred an honorary Doctor of Science and Technology by his alma mater, Carnegie Mellon University. In 2013, David and his brother Tom Kelley published ''Creative Confidence'',''Creative Confidence''
/ref> which a ''Forbes'' review called "an empowering, compelling, relentlessly hopeful and optimistic read." In 2012, Kelley spoke on building creative confidence at TED 2012. He had earlier spoken at TED 2002 on human-centered design. In 2009, he was awarded the

Edison Achievement Award Edison Awards is an American company that runs an annual competition honoring excellence in innovation in a broad range of categories. Company The Edison Awards were established by the American Marketing Association in 1987 and has been an in ...

for his "pioneering contributions to the design of breakthrough products, services, and experiences for consumers, as well as his development of an innovative culture that has broad impact." In 2005, he was recognized for his "distinguished contribution to design education" with the Sir Misha Black Medal. In 2001, the Smithsonian's

Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is a design museum housed within the Andrew Carnegie Mansion in Manhattan, New York City, along the Upper East Side's Museum Mile. It is one of 19 museums that fall under the wing of the Smithsonian Ins ...

presented David Kelley and IDEO with the National Design Award in Product Design. In 2000, he was honored with a Chrysler Design Award, and was elected to the

for "the creation of products of diversity and for affecting the practice of design."

References

External links