He is also one of the world’s leading speakers with a profound impact on audiences everywhere. The videos of his famous 2006 and 2010 talks to the prestigious TED Conference have been seen by an estimated 200 million people in over 150 countries. He works with governments in Europe, Asia and the USA, with international agencies, Fortune 500 companies and some of the world’s leading cultural organisations. In 1998, he led a national commission on creativity, education and the economy for the UK Government.
For twelve years, he was professor of education at the University of Warwick in the UK and is now professor emeritus. He has received honorary degrees from the Rhode Island School of Design, Ringling College of Arts and Design, the Open University and the Central School of Speech and Drama, Birmingham City University and the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. He has been honoured with the Athena Award of the Rhode Island School of Design for services to the arts and education; the Peabody Medal for contributions to the arts and culture in the United States, the LEGO Prize for international achievement in education and the Benjamin Franklin Medal of the Royal Society of Arts for outstanding contributions to cultural relations between the United Kingdom and the United States.
In 2005, he was named as one of TIME/FORTUNE/CNN’s ‘Principal Voices’ and in 2003, he received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for his services to the arts.
Ken Robinson will be taking to the stage at 4:15 pm on Friday 23 January to present his session, “Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative”, which borrows its title from one of his ground-breaking books. The session looks at how National education systems are being reformed worldwide to meet the challenges of the 21st Century.
Ken will also be delivering this year’s closing speech at 2:00 pm on Saturday 24 January on “Creating a Legacy of Change”
