About

Brook Kennedy is an interdisciplinary designer, researcher and inventor with more than twenty years of diverse experience. He was the winner of the Red Dot Best of the Best Award in 2011, along with numerous other accolades before and since including the Green Good Design Award in 2025. He was awarded the Global Visiting Professorship at the Technical University of Munich in 2024. With an interest in materiality, and a foundation in inclusive, human-centered design practices with Smart Design, OXO, Michael Graves Design and others, he has championed the voice of the user and helped define some of the world's most recognized brands. He has commercialized more than 70 mass produced products, many which continue to be successful after years on the market. Today, in addition to advising roles with forward-looking companies, startups and NGOs, he is also co-founder of the BioDesign Research Group, a sponsored research initiiative exploring renewable material alternatives for furniture and consumer products. Many of these projects have been covered in international media and publications including the New York Times, Dezeen, NPR, PBS Newshour, BBC, FRAME, Czech National Radio, Design Boom, CNN, Ingeniøren, the Washington Post, Fast Company, the Boston Globe and the Verge. His work has been exhibited at the Smithsonian, ICFF, Budapest Design Week among other venues.

Kennedy is also a Professor at Virginia Tech where he mentors young designers and enjoys being a pedestrian in a small, college town. Originally from New York City of the ‘Three Days of the Condor’ and Richard Estes era, he has also lived in San Francisco, London and France. Kennedy was educated at Reed College in Portland, Oregon and earned a Master of Fine Arts in Design at Stanford University under Matt Kahn. You can contact him at brook (dot) kennedy at vt (dot) edu or at brook at stanfordalumni (dot) org. Publications and patents can be viewed here.