Lifetime Achievement

Richard Saul Wurman

Spurred by the dance between his curiosity and ignorance, Richard Saul Wurman, FAIA, seeks ways to make the complex clear. Described by Fortune magazine as an “intellectual hedonist” with a “hummingbird mind,” he has written, designed, and published eighty-three books and counting on topics ranging from healthcare to atlases and the Olympics. Wurman received his degrees in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania and is the creator of the term “information architecture.” Wurman created and chaired the TED, TEDMED, and eg conferences in 1984–2002, 1995–2010, and 2006, respectively. He is currently developing the WWW conferences celebrating improvised conversations, or “intellectual jazz,” and continues to work on his global cartographic initiative, 19.20.21.