Patrick Whitney

Steelcase Endowed Chair and Dean Emeritus Patrick Whitney is Professor in Residence at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He has published and lectured throughout the world about ways of making technological innovations more humane, the link between design and business strategy, and methods of designing interactive communications and products. His writing is generally about new frameworks of design that respond to three transformations: linking insights about user experience to business strategy, the shift from mass-production to flexible production, and the shift from national markets to markets that are both global and “markets of one.”

BusinessWeek has profiled Whitney as a “design visionary” for bringing together design and business, Forbes named him as one of six members of the “E-Gang” for his work in human-centered design, Fast Company has identified him as a “master of design” for linking the creation of user value and economic value, and Global Entrepreneur named him one of the 25 people worldwide doing the most to bring new ideas to business in China.

He was the principal investigator of several research projects at the Institute of Design, including “Global Companies in Local Markets,” “Design for the Base of the Pyramid,” and “Schools in the Digital Age.” His recent work has been supported by several grants, including funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, SC Johnson, the Steelcase Foundation, and numerous corporations.

He is a trustee of the Global Heritage Fund, which supports restoration of heritage sites and local communities in the developing world.