Michael Rogers

"We're all practical futurists now. The future happens so quickly that we need to make plans here and now for what will happen next." These are the words of technology pioneer Michael Rogers, the author and futurist who completed two years as futurist-in-residence for The New York Times. He is a columnist for MSNBC.com, and as a practical futurist he helps businesses and organizations worldwide think about the future.

In recent years Rogers has worked with companies ranging from FedEx, Boeing, and NBC Universal to Microsoft, Pfizer, and American Express. As a speaker he is known for charisma and for stretching minds, and has delighted audiences worldwide with his storytelling and provocative thinking. He addresses groups ranging from venture capitalists and corporate executives to educators, students, and the general public and is also a regular guest on radio and television, including Good Morning America, The Today Show, PBS, CNN, and the History Channel.

Rogers began his career as a writer for Rolling Stone and went on to co-found Outside magazine. He then launched Newsweek's technology column, winning numerous journalism awards including a National Headliner Award for coverage of the Chernobyl meltdown.

For ten years he was vice president of The Washington Post Company's new media division, guiding both the newspaper and its sister publication Newsweek into the new century, as well as serving as editor and general manager of Newsweek.com where he won the Distinguished Online Service Award from the National Press Club for coverage of 9/11.

His work in interactive media ranges from the first Lucasfilm computer game and interactive CD-ROMs to Prodigy, America Online, and finally the Internet. In 1999 Rogers received a patent for the bimodal spine, a multimedia storytelling technique, and is listed in Who's Who in Science and Engineering. In 2007 he was named to the Magazine Industry Digital Hall of Fame, and in 2009 he received the World Technology Network Award for Lifetime Achievement in Media and Journalism.

Recently, Rogers figured in the international bestseller The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot; early during his career as an investigative reporter for Rolling Stone, he was the first to track down the family of Henrietta Lacks and bring her story to the public.

Rogers studied physics and creative writing at Stanford University with additional training in finance and management at the Stanford Business School Executive Program. He is also a best-selling novelist whose fiction explores the human impact of technology.