Dr. Keith Sawyer

Author of Zig Zag and other books dispels common mythical conceptions of creativity and replaces them with real life experiences and functional knowledge

Dr. R. Keith Sawyer, Morgan Distinguished Professor of Educational Innovation at UNC: Chapel Hill, is one of the world’s leading scientific experts on creativity, collaboration, and learning, and the author of several books including Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation (2024) and Zig Zag: The Surprising Path to Greater Creativity (2013).

Keith’s book Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration (2017) draws on his research on jazz and improv theater to show the reader how to be more creative in collaborative group settings and how to change organizations for the better. His other books on this topic include Group Creativity: Music, Theater, Collaboration and Creating Conversations, and he is the host of "The Science of Creativity" podcast.

Exclusively represented by BrightSight Speakers, Dr. Sawyer combines his scientific expertise with a strong hands-on background in real-world creativity. After receiving his computer science degree from MIT in 1982, he began his career with a two-year stint designing videogames for Atari. His titles included Food Fight, Neon, and Magician. From 1984 to 1990, he was a principal at Kenan Systems Corporation, where he worked as a management consultant on innovative technologies. His clients included Citicorp, AT&T, and U.S. West. Since receiving his Ph.D. in 1994, he has dedicated his career to research on collaboration and group creativity. He has been a jazz pianist for over 30 years, and spent several years playing piano with Chicago improv theater groups.

Dr. Sawyer’s unique and authoritative expertise in creativity and collaboration is in demand. He has given keynotes and consulted for countless corporations, associations, and nonprofits. He has created numerous half-day and full-day workshops for executives and leadership teams. His clients have included finance firms (Bank of America, Van Wyk); toy company Mattel; medical and pharmaceutical companies (Stryker, AstraZeneca, Pfizer); nonprofits (the Smithsonian Institution, the World Economic Forum); tech companies (Microsoft, Amazon); and even the San Francisco Exploratorium, the legendary science center in downtown San Francisco.

Dr. Sawyer is frequently interviewed on television (CNN, CNBC, Fox News) and radio. He has been quoted in numerous magazine and newspaper articles, including TIME, The New York Times, U. S. News and World Report, and many others.

Follow him on Twitter @drkeithsawyer