David M. Kelley is an American businessman, entrepreneur, designer, engineer, and teacher. He is founder of the design firmIDEO and a professor at Stanford University. He has received several honors for his contributions to design and design education.
Kelley began work as an engineer, first at Boeing 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". 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 movies, among many other film credits. In 1991, Kelley merged DKD with three other design firms to create IDEO, which he ran as CEO until 2000.
Work in education
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 at Stanford University, known as the "d.school."
Books, talks, and honors
David Kelley has been recognized as one of America's leading design innovators. In 2013, David and his brother Tom Kelley published Creative Confidence, 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 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 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 National Academy of Engineering for "affecting the practice of design." In 2019, he was conferred an honorary Doctor of Science and Technology by his alma mater, Carnegie Mellon University. In 2020, he received the Bernard M. Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education from the National Academy of Engineering “for formalizing the principles and curriculum of ‘design thinking’ to develop innovative engineering leaders with empathy and creative confidence to generate high-impact solutions.”
