Ken Baldauf

BIOGRAPHY: Ken Baldauf is the Founding Director of Florida State University’s Innovation Hub, where students from all disciplines work together, utilizing Design Thinking with emerging technologies, to confront the demanding and complex problems of our day. After over 25 years as an FSU faculty member with a background in music and computer science, having taught tens of thousands of students in computing and technology classes, Ken has pivoted from machine to human, now fostering curiosity, creativity, compassion, and innovation across the disciplines.

Through his Innovation by Design class, and through a wide variety of workshops, design sprints, and boot camps, Ken and his team teach and facilitate Design Thinking sessions that win hundreds of new enthusiasts each year. Ken has authored several textbooks and has presented at educational conferences across the U.S. (and now Canada). In addition to his work in academe, Ken serves on the Boards of Moonshot Florida, The Sharing Tree, and Cornerstone Learning Community, three organizations that exemplify the values that Ken holds dear.

ARTIST STATEMENT: I am an optimist in the age of “great acceleration,” a time when optimism is being sorely tested. I am a humanist, technologist, futurist, and banjoist. I believe in the inherent strength, beauty, and goodness of the human spirit. I direct an Innovation Hub and teach Design Thinking to inspire creativity in young adults. I believe in nurturing creative confidence in children in order to safeguard our future. I cycle to work and practice yoga and meditation in order to keep my balance.