PISA is a short but meaningful acronym associated with one of our most important and respected endeavors here at Future-ish, The Future-ish Public Intellectual Service & Advocacy (PISA) List. Some people say that public intellectuals have all but disappeared from our modern society. We strongly disagree. The Future-ish PISA List is a growing collection of people from around the world that we feel embody what it means to be a public intellectual.
Public intellectuals are individuals with extensive training and expertise in a particular discipline that speak or write publicly about their discipline to an audience outside their own field or industry. More importantly, they endeavor to relate their work to the larger social, economic, and political world around it. Albert Einstein, for example, was often asked to comment on art, politics, and religion in addition to his own work in physics. Public intellectuals are rigorous thinkers that offer their own ideas and opinions while still respecting the ideas and opinions of others. On rare occasions, public intellectuals are elected and/or are appointed to public office; Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, is such an example.
In establishing the Future-ish PISA List, we hope to inform and inspire many generations of scientists, designers, and cultural leaders to follow in Einstein's and Merkel's footsteps and become more involved in public service and advocacy, from participating in civic panels and writing editorials to serving as subject matter experts in the media and running for public office.
We update the PISA List each October. If you have suggestions for additions to the list, please send them to us at StudioF/at/future-ish/dot/com.
Individuals with an asterisk have been elected or appointed to public office. Years in parentheses indicate year added to the list.
2011 additions to the PISA List
Yvon Chouinard
Stephen Chu*
Janet Gray
Zaha Hadid
James Hanson*
Paul D. Miller (aka DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid)
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf*
Elouise Cobbell*
Full list as of October 2011
Maya Angelou (2007)
Janine Benyus (2010)
Noam Chomsky (2007)
Yvon Chouinard (2011)
Stephen Chu** (2011)
Jane Goodall (2007)
Janet Gray (2011)
Zaha Hadid (2011)
Katherine Hamnett (2008)
James Hanson* (2011)
Tyrone Hayes (2008)
Michio Kaku (2008)
Jane Lubchenko* (2010)
Oren Lyons* (2010)
Angela Merkel* (2008)
Paul D. Miller (aka DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid) (2011)
Lisa Randall (2009)
Bobby Sanabria (2009)
Vandana Shiva (2009)
Cameron Sinclair (2010)
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf* (2011)
David Suzuki (2010)
Richard Swett* (2009)
Neil deGrasse Tyson (2007)
Public Intellectuals in History
Elouise Cobbell* (2011)
Wangari Maathai* (2010)
