With the publication of his first book in 1962 at the age of 26, RSW began the singular passion of his life: making information understandable. He chaired the International Design in Aspen in 1972, the first Federal Design Assembly in 1973, followed by the National AIA Convention in 1976, before creating and chairing TED (Technology/Entertainment/Design) conferences from 1984-2002. He created and chaired the TEDMED and eg2006 conferences. A B.Arch and M.Arch 1959 graduate with highest honors from the University of Pennsylvania, Mr. Wurman’s nearly half-century of achievements includes the publication of his best-selling book Information Anxiety and his award winning ACCESS Travel Guides.
Each of his 81 books focus on some subject or idea that he personally had difficulty understanding. His most recent publications include UNDERSTANDING USA, Urban Atlas, Wall Street Journal Access, Information Anxiety2, Diagnostic Tests for Men, Diagnostic Tests for Women, Heart Disease & Cardiovascular Health and Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning, UNDERSTANDING Children and UNDERSTANDING Healthcare (January 2004).
He has been awarded several grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Guggenheim Fellowship, two Graham Fellowships, two Chandler Fellowships, and the Chrysler Design Award in 1996. In 1991, RSW received the Kevin Lynch Award from MIT and was honored by a retrospective exhibition of his work at the AXIS Design Gallery in Tokyo, Japan on the occasion of their 10th Anniversary. He received a Doctorate of Fine Arts by the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA, an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Art Center College of Design and an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from the Art Institute of Boston.
Presently, RSW is working on his latest project 19.20.21. which he created and chairs with his four partners: Larry Keeley, Jon Kamen, Michael Hawley, and Robert Friedman.
He is married to novelist and lyricist Gloria Nagy. He has 4 children and 6 grandchildren. He lives in Newport, Rhode Island with his dogs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
- Conferences Chaired:
- International Design Conference in Aspen The Invisible City 1972
- First Federal Design Assembly (Co-Chairman) 1973
- AIA National Convention, Architecture of Information 1976
- Pacific Design Center 1981/1982
- Monterey 101 Conference 1981/1982/1983
- TED (12) 1984-2002
- TEDMED (4) 1995,1998,2003, & 2004
- TEDMED Kobe Japan
- TEDSELL 1996
- TEDNYC 1997
- TEDCity Toronto 2000
- eg2006
- Council on Competitiveness 20th Anniversary 2006
A selection of books authored & designed by RSW:
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- 1960's
- Cities: A Comparison of Form and Scale
- The Notebook and Drawings of Louis I. Kahn
- Urban Atlas: 20 American Cities (with Joseph Passonneau)
- Various Dwellings Described in a Comparative Manner
- 1970's
- Aspen Visible
- Guidebook to Guidebooks
- Making the City Observable
- Man Made Philadelphia (with J.A. Gallery)
- The Nature of Recreation (with Alan Levy & Joel Katz)
- Our Man Made Environment Book 7 (with Alan Levy)
- What-If, Could-Be: An Historic Fable of the Future
- Yellow Pages Career Library (12 volumes)
- Yellow Pages of Learning Resources
- 1980's
- Baseball Access
- Dog Access
- Football Access
- Hawaii Access
- Las Vegas Access
- London Access
- Los Angeles Access
- Medical Access
- New Orleans Access
- New York City Access
- Olympic Access
- Paris Access
- Polaroid Access
- Rome Access
- San Francisco Access
- Summer Games Access
- Tokyo Access
- Hats
- Information Anxiety
- Wall Street Journal Guide to Understanding Money & Markets
- Washington, DC Access
- What Will Be Has Always Been, The Words of Louis I. Kahn
- Winter Games
- 1990's
- Barcelona Access
- Boston Access
- C, The Charleston Guide
- California Wine Country Access
- Chicago Access
- Danny Goodman's Macintosh Handbook (with Danny Goodman)
- Florence/Venice/Milan Access
- Follow the Yellow Brick Road (with Loring Leifer)
- Fortune Guide to Investing in the 90's
- Information Architects (co-published with Graphis)
- N, The Newport Guide
- On Time, Airline Guide to North America
- Office Access
- San Diego Access
- Twin Peaks Access (with David Lynch)
- USAtlas
- 2000's
- Understanding USA
- Can I Afford To Retire?
- Information Anxiety2
- Drugs, Prescription, Non-prescription & Herbal
- Heart Disease & Cardiovascular Health
- Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning
- Diagnostic Tests for Men
- Diagnostic Tests for Women
- Understanding Children (with Civitas)
- 1000 - Richard Saul Wurman's Who's Really Who
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- Understanding Healthcare