"Each of the more than 60 books I've authored, designed, and published was inspired by something I didn't understand," says Richard Saul Wurman. Ignorance is simply a pretense for learning in the eyes of Wurman, who has devoted his life not only to trying to understand but making it easier for others to understand.

Trained as an architect, Wurman cultivated an early and lasting friendship with Louis I. Kahn, but along the way he refocused his profession to become an "information architect," a term he coined and has applied to almost everything he does. Whether it was creating a new travel guide that oriented information around a tourist's view, or redesigning the Smart Yellow Pages distributed in California, or serving as information consultant to major corporations, Wurman has brought his singular passion to the work. He has presented his ideas in such influential books as the 1990 best-selling Information Anxiety, and over the past several decades has been the catalyst in helping others to exchange ideas. His hugely popular TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conferences have galvanized the design community as well as business leaders.

Wurman has received a number of commendations for his work, including the Kevin Lynch Award from MIT, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a lifetime achievement award from the Pacific Design Center. In 1994 Wurman was named a fellow of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and in 1999 he received an honorary doctorate of fine arts from the Art Institute of Boston. His publishing company, The Ovations Press (TOP), publishes books about health and other subjects for people over the age of 50. "Understanding is power," according to Wurman.