Laurence F. Johnson, Ph.D. is Chief Executive Officer of the New Media Consortium (NMC), an international not-for-profit consortium of learning-focused organizations dedicated to the exploration and use of new media and new technologies. Its hundreds of member institutions constitute an elite list of the most highly regarded colleges and universities in the world, as well as leading museums, key research centers, and some of the world's most forward-thinking companies. A noted keynote speaker who over the past 15 years has addressed several hundred major summits, conferences, and leadership groups in more than a dozen countries, Johnson is an acknowledged expert on emerging technology and its unfolding impacts on society and education, as well as the topics of creativity, innovation, and how to think about the future.

In his current post at the NMC, Dr. Johnson routinely brings visionaries and thought leaders from across the globe together to define and explore new ways of thinking about and using technology, and to examine emerging trends and issues. The NMC’s annual Horizon Report, now published in six languages, has become one of the leading tools used by senior executives in universities and museums to set priorities for technology planning. NMC summits and large- scale projects have helped set the agenda for topics such as visual literacy, learning objects, educational gaming, the future of scholarship, and the new web. Recent examples include the NMC’s high-profile experimental campus in the virtual world of Second Life and its leadership role in the MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning.

Having served as president and senior executive at institutions in both the higher education and not-for-profit realms, Dr. Johnson has more than 25 years of experience in the global education arena. His educational background includes an MBA in Finance and a Ph.D. in Education that focused on research and evaluation. Among much other recognition, Dr. Johnson has been honored as a Distinguished Graduate by his alma mater, the University of Texas at Austin.