David Staley is a historian, writer, designer, futurist, educator, advisor, and journalist, and was recently described as an "eclectic academic." He is an Associate Professor in the departments of History and Design at The Ohio State University, and is the author of Alternative Universities: Speculative Design for Innovation in Higher Education, the co-author of Knowledge Towns: Colleges and Universities as Talent Magnets and author of Visionary Histories, a collection of his essays about the future. He is an honorary faculty fellow at the Center for Higher Education Leadership and Innovative Practice (CHELIP) at Bay Path University, where he contributes the "University Design" column. He is the host of the "Voices of Excellence" podcast, and president of Columbus Futurists, a local think tank. In 2022 he was awarded "Best Freelance Writer" by the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists for his "Next" futures column with Columbus Underground.