The RISD Presidential Speaker Series offers a forum for welcoming some of the most expansive thinkers of our times to campus. Each speaker is a master of his or her domain but is also ready to transcend it, sharing the RISD community’s own belief in the fruitful exchange of ideas that happens when artists, designers, activists, scientists and other scholars really talk and listen to each other.
BIOLOGY
BY DESIGN
Living organisms have spent millennia evolving to become the most efficient at fulfilling their respective purposes. Now, the simplest living things provide inspiration for the most advanced materials. After ages of learning about nature, the future of design now lies in learning from it as we move toward a more sustainable future.
ANGELA BELCHER
biological engineer, materials scientist, W.M. Keck professor of energy, founder of Cambrios Technologies