American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
National Academy of Education
Rochester Institute of Technology
Pardee RAND Graduate School
Arizona State University
Bates College
Singapore Management University
Illinois Institute of Technology (Institute of Design)
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
North Carolina State University
University of Michigan
Claremont Graduate University
Harvard Business Review
London Business School
Brown University
Harvard Business Review
Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI)
Chief Scientist, Xerox Corporation
Director, Palo Alto Research Center (PARC)
Co‑founder and Associate Director, Institute for Research on Learning (IRL)
Senior Scientist, BBN Technologies (Bolt Beranek and Newman)
Assistant Professor, University of California, Irvine
John Seely Brown (JSB) is an American researcher and author known for work at the intersection of organizational learning, innovation, and digital culture. He served as Chief Scientist of Xerox Corporation (1992–2002) and Director of the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) (1990–2000). He co‑founded the Institute for Research on Learning (IRL) and has authored influential books including The Social Life of Information, The Power of Pull, and A New Culture of Learning. He has advised universities and companies worldwide and is a visiting scholar and advisor to the Provost at the University of Southern California.
A learning framework that makes thinking visible by situating knowledge in authentic tasks and social contexts, using modeling, coaching, scaffolding, articulation, reflection, and exploration to help novices acquire expert practices.
CreateSpace • Book
Presents a vision of learning suited to an era of constant change, emphasizing play, curiosity, and imagination as engines of learning. The authors describe how networked technologies and communities can make learning fluid, evolving, and scalable—growing alongside the technologies and people who participate in it.
Basic Books • Book
Argues that in a world of accelerating change and abundant information flows, individuals and institutions gain advantage by cultivating ‘pull’—connecting with new knowledge flows, shaping serendipity, and building creation spaces that amplify learning and impact. Provides practices for accessing diverse information, attracting networks, and transforming organizations to adapt to continuous knowledge flow.
Harvard Business School Press • Book
Explores why technologies alone do not determine outcomes and argues that social contexts, communities, organizations, and institutions shape how information gains meaning and value. Looking beyond simplistic predictions that information technology would dismantle traditional structures, the book explains how human sociability and institutional practices enable learning, working, and innovating, offering a more optimistic, socially grounded view of the digital world.