Richard Florida The Rise of the Creative Class

Richard Florida is one of the world's leading public intellectuals. Esquire Magazine recently named him one of the ‘Best and Brightest’.

He is author of the national and international best-selling book, The Rise of the Creative Class, which received the Washington Monthly's Political Book Award and was cited as a major breakthrough idea by the Harvard Business Review.

His ideas have been featured in major ad campaigns and such as BMW and Apple and are being used globally to change the way regions, nations, and companies compete.

He is founder of the Creative Class Group, an advisory services firm, charting new trends in business and community. Richard has been appointed to the Business Innovation Factory’s Research Advisory Council and recently named European Ambassador for Creativity and Innovation.

Richard is a regular correspondent with the Atlantic Monthly and has written articles for the Globe and Mail, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, theHarvard Business Review, the Boston Globe and the Financial Times. He has been featured on ABC 20/20, BBC, CNN, MSNBC, CBS, NPR and several other major media.

His most recent book, Who’s Your City? has been hailed a National Best-Seller, an International Best-Seller and Amazon Book of the Month. His previous book, The Rise of the Creative Class, was recognized as the “Best Business Book of All Time” and was awarded by Harvard Business Review as a Breakthrough Idea.

He is Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute and Professor of Business and Creativity at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. Florida previously held a professorship at Carnegie Mellon University, a visiting professor at Harvard and MIT, and a visiting fellow of the Brookings Institution. Florida earned his Bachelor's degree from Rutgers College and his Ph.D. from Columbia University.