The Rise of the Creative Class

Richard Florida, Helen LeBaron Hilton Chair in Human Sciences Fall Lecturer, is one of the world's leading public intellectuals on economic competitiveness, demographic trends, and cultural and technological innovation. He is professor of business economics and the Academic Director of the newly established Centre for Jurisdictional Advantage and Prosperity at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, a nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and a Senior Scientist with the Gallup Organization. Florida is the author of the 2002 bestseller The Rise of the Creative Class and he more recent The Flight of the Creative Class, an examination of the global competition for creative talent. Florida's ideas on the "creative class," commercial innovation, and regional development have been featured in major ad campaigns from BMW and Apple, and are being used globally to change the way regions and nations do business and transform their economies. The Helen LeBaron Hilton Chair in Human Sciences Fall Lecture and part of a community-wide celebration of Iowa State's sesquicentennial.