Former journalist and magazine publisher Chris Anderson, who now leads the influential TED conferences, will speak to imminent School of Design graduates on May 25. TED, established in 1984, originally brought together industry leaders in technology, entertainment, and design (hence its acronym) to promote “ideas worth spreading.” Since then, the gatherings have spread around the world and, through three annual conferences and various other projects and programs, now extend to thought leaders of all disciplines.
Anderson, who was born in Pakistan (his father was a missionary eye surgeon), graduated from Oxford with a philosophy degree. In the 1980s and 1990s he built a series of computer magazines through the company he founded, Future Publishing, in the United Kingdom, and later developed Imagine Media in the United States, publisher of the groundbreaking magazine Business 2.0 and the games website IGN. In 2001 Anderson’s private, nonprofit Sapling Foundation, which aims to help solve global problems through media, technology, and entrepreneurship, acquired the New York City-based TED conferences. Listen to a podcast of Anderson's appearance on the radio show On Point with Tom Ashbrook.
