David Houle (futurist)
David Houle | |
|---|---|
| David Houle | |
| Born | 3 July 1948 Chicago |
| Nationality |  United States |
| Occupation(s) | Futurist, entrepreneur, writer |
| Known for | The Shift Age |
| Website | http://www.davidhoule.com [1] |
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David Houle (born 1948) is renowned as a futurist, keynote speaker, and author of The Shift Age. He coined the phrase The Shift Age and identified this new age as the successor to the Information Age in 2007. Subsequently, The Shift Age is now a widely used term and Houle is credited with introducing this concept of man’s current age to the world.
Early life
David Houle was born on July 3, 1948 in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago and in a family fond of learning. His parents were Bettie E. Houle and Cyril O. Houle. His mother earned a PhD from the University of Chicago in child development, was active in the community, numerous charities and served a two year term as President of the Fortnightly Club of Chicago. His father, Cyril O. Houle was a professor at the University of Chicago in the field of Adult Education and often considered as the “father of adult education”. Professor Houle wrote 12 books and was awarded 14 honorary degrees. Cyril O. Houle died in 1998 and Bettie E. Houle died in 2000.
Houle attended the University of Chicago Laboratory School from nursery school through high school. After graduated from high school in 1965, he joined Syracuse University and earned a B.A. in Art History in 1969. Following his college graduation, he worked and travelled North America in a van and back packed around the world for two years.
Television Producer
Houle spent more than 20 years in media and entertainment. In the mid-1970s he worked first at NBC, then at CBS in advertising sales. He then joined the executive team that created and launched MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1 and CNN Headline News serving in senior advertising sales capacities.
In the early 1990s Houle created programming for television[2]. He won two Emmy Awards for a nationally syndicated children’s program “Energy Express”. He represented Bill Kurtis and Kurtis Productions helping to launch such series as “Investigative Reports” and “American Justice” on the A&E cable television network. Along with friend and colleague Jack Myers he created Television Production Partners (TPP) creating a consortium of advertisers to fund television programming. In this capacity he won a George Foster Peabody Award [3], a Heartland Award and was nominated for an Academy Award[4] for the documentary “Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream”.[5]
Entrepreneur
Before becoming a futurist, David Houle was also a successful entrepreneur. In the late 1990s, he was Managing Director of University Access, an e-learning company based in Los Angeles that created business courses for colleges and universities. Following the return to his hometown Chicago in the early part of the 20th, he worked both as an advisor to companies and a speaker on the future of education and technology. In 2012, David Houle still holds the position as Chief Business Strategist at Blueliner Marketing[6], an international digital agency of his fellow friend Arman Rousta based in New York City that he has joined since September 2004.
Futurist Consultant & Speaker
Houle is now best known as a futurist and as a keynote speaker. He began speaking about “The Shift Age” as a professional speaker since 2007. In 2009, he won a “Speaker of the Year” Award from Vistage International. In April 2007, he attended and spoke at the Foundation for the Future Energy Conference 3000 and his blog columns on this conference with interviews with the attending scientists were published by the Foundation in its report. Houle often travels around the world speaking in numerous international conferences and corporate retreats to CEOs as well as business owners [7][8][9]. During 2010-2011, he delivered 300+ speeches in 10 countries on 6 continents. As a futurist, Houle cited Alvin Toffler and Marshall McLuhan as his major influences. Houle has recently become Futurist in Residence and Faculty member at the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida.[10][11]
Writings
David Houle started his writing career in 2006 by launching his futurist blog www.evolutionshift.com with the tag line “A Future Look at Today”. In late 2007, his first book “The Shift Age” was published. Houle said Arthur C. Clarke’s book “Childhood’s End” was the one novel that most affected him in writing this book.
In February 2010, Houle became a featured contributor on Oprah.com.[12]
Houle had his second book, co-authored with Jeff Cobb, “Shift Ed: A Call to Action for Transforming K-12” was published in March 2011. And his latest book, co-authored with Jonathan Fleece, “The New Health Age: The Future of Health Care in America” was published in December 2011.
Bibliography
- The New Health Age: The Future of Healthcare in America (2007) with Jonathan Fleece, Sourcebooks, ISBN 1-402-27393-2
- The Shift Age (2011), Sourcebooks, ISBN 1-402-27390-8
- Shift Ed: A Call to Action for Transforming K-12 Education (2011) with Jeff Cobb, Corwin Press, ISBN 1-412-99296-6
References
- ^ David Houle's official website
- ^ David Houle's profile on IMDB
- ^ Houle's production won George Foster Peabody Award
- ^ Nomination of "Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream"
- ^ “Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream”
- ^ David Houle's profile at Blueliner Marketing's website
- ^ Speech at the VASCD 2011 Annual Conference
- ^ Speech at the 2011 AFS Foundry Executive Conference
- ^ Course and Education conferences in 2010
- ^ Futurist in Residence at Ringling College of Art and Design
- ^ David Houle on Bradenton Herald
- ^ Houle on Oprah's website
External Links
