Beth Altringer

Beth Altringer is Professor of Practice at Brown University, Faculty Associate at Rhode Island School of Design, and Principal at Ames Studio, a full-service digital product design studio that focuses on design and technology that can augment human learning and our capacity to experience creativity, meaning, connection, and joy. She was named to the 2018 Thinkers50 Radar list of management thinkers most likely to shape the future of how organizations are managed and led.

Beth boasts a wunderkind academic resume. A designer by background, she previously taught at Harvard University where she spent nearly a decade developing design, innovation, and entrepreneurship courses, curriculum, programs, and initiatives. She was also part of the core team that created the school’s first dual engineering (MS) and MBA degree in 2016. She was recognized as one of Harvard’s top 15 professors that same year. Altringer earned a master’s degree in architecture from the University of Cape Town, a doctorate from Cambridge University in behavioral science of design, a visiting scholarship in human-computer interaction at Stanford, degrees in psychology and economics, a Fulbright fellowship in design, and a postdoctoral fellowship in design at MIT. She furthered her education by studying around the world, spending years honing what she believes are the qualities of an effective cross-disciplinary designer. Altringer has also worked on a number of global sustainability and innovation projects – mostly in consumer products, fashion and urban design and development – in Chile, the Czech Republic, South Africa, Spain, France, Italy, the U.K., and the U.S.

Beth exudes an infectious passion when consulting, speaking or collaborating. Her teachings offer organizations a powerful opportunity to leverage every tool in the design and innovation toolbox so they can disrupt their industries and create memorable products and experiences that leave an indelible mark.