BIOGRAPHY

Rick Brennan is a longtime teacher turned instructional designer and entrepreneur who has developed dynamic, standards-aligned ed + tech experiences throughout his 25-year career in education.

Collaborating with clients that included local leaders and well-known national brands, Rick built his business based on eduPLAYtion principles by crafting game-like learning programs and providing design-thinking-teaching professional development, often in support of popular video game titles like SimCity, Minecraft and Gamestar Mechanic.

His own learning game, Historia, was featured prominently by the Gates Foundation PLAYMAKERS film series that spotlighted the best game-based exemplars in the country. He discussed Historia’s unique design cycle at a TEDxTalk he gave here at Rice called What if Sixth Graders Ruled the World?

Rick was also named a Global Leader in Education by Microsoft, honoring his considerable contributions to public education over the years.