Bowen White, MD founded the Department of Preventive and Stress Medicine for the Baptist Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri, one of the first such departments in the United States. He served as Medical Director of that department and the Department of Wellness and Health Promotion before leaving to pursue a private practice and career as a consultant and speaker. He continues to travel throughout the world conducting seminars, consulting to businesses, and speaking to public and private organizations.
Brendan Boyle is a Principal at IDEO worldwide design and innovation firm. He has been a pioneer in designing and overseeing kid-centric services, experiences and products. He leads Zero20, which has licensed more than 125 toy, game and juvenile product concepts. He is also a Consulting Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department of Stanford University, actively teaching product design, engineering creativity, and human factors. Brendan holds a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering-Product Design from Stanford, and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan State.
Bruce Beihoff is Director of Innovation and Technology Systems and Process Research, Whirlpool Corporation. His previous position was Principal Engineer and Manager - Solid State Power Facility, Advanced Development Group, Rockwell Automation. Mr. Beihoff earned his BSME and MSc within the University of Wisconsin System having attended both UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee. He has over 25 years of experience in appliance technologies, automation, industrial control, aerospace, process control, power devices, and energy/power conversion. He has successfully led over fourteen technology programs that delivered profitable products to the market place. Bruce has received numerous awards, holds 40 patents with 5 pending. He has served in a number of senior management positions, and is the author of three advanced systems engineering methods used in energy conversion systems.
Ivy Ross is currently the Fearless leader of Google Glass. Previously, she held executive positions ranging from head of product design and development to CMO and presidencies with several companies, including Calvin Klein, Swatch, Coach, Mattel, Art.com, Bausch & Lomb and Gap.
As an early creator of integrated digital and social media campaigns, Ivy has appeared on NPR’s Marketplace and has been quoted in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. Early in her career, she had her own company and a retail store in NYC that vogue magazine called “one of the most influential stores of the decade."
Ross’ education is in design and psychology and included time at The Harvard Business School. Ross was a founding partner of two independent design firms and a retail store. She has a proven ability as a design leader and also possesses a strong sense of business management. She is a world-renowned artist. Ross’ innovative metal work in jewelry is in the permanent collection of 12 international museums. A winner of the prestigious National Endowment for the Arts grant, Ross has also received the Women in Design Award and Diamond International award for her creative designs.
Jane Goodall, PhD is the world’s best known woman scientist, multiply honored for her pioneering work in primatology, and recently selected as humanitarian of the year by the United Nations. Her major interests in worldwide ecology, the education of children and Chimpanzee habitat preservation are implemented through the Jane Goodall Institute.
Joan Abrahamson JD, PhD is president and executive director of the Jonas Salk Foundation. She is also founder and president of the Jefferson Institute, a nonprofit institution that identifies solutions to public policy problems. A former assistant chief of staff to Vice President George H. W. Bush, Abrahamson is on the boards of numerous organizations and has received a number of fellowships and awards, including the MacArthur Prize. She has earned an Ed.D from Harvard, a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, along with degrees from Yale and Stanford. She is an exhibited painter and a songwriter.
Stuart Brown, MD is the founder of the National Institute for Play, where he speaks, consults and educates organizations, corporations, universities, and public policy makers about the importance of play in our lives and the unexpected, serious consequences that occur when play is neglected. His background in psychiatry, the evolution of human and animal play, as well as his clinical research into the causes and prevention of violence, have shown him that authentic play is a state of being which can be accessed and used by everyone, and that play is as important to humans as vitamins or sleep.
Tom is currently the Senior Vice President of Marketing, Design and Product Development and has been with PlayCore since 1993, where he is responsible for guiding the Marketing, Product Development, Design, PlayWorx and CAD department roles in the company.
As a founding board member in 1995, past president, past treasurer and current secretary of the International Play Equipment Manufacturer’s Association (IPEMA) and long-term active American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) representative, over the past 30 years, Tom Norquist has been involved in all aspects of the play industry. Under Tom’s leadership, IPEMA formed their value of play outreach effort through the www.voiceofplay.org website. Tom recently received Auburn University School of Industrial and Graphic Design Distinguished Service Award for his leadership with seven design studios over the past decade.