David Pensak
David Pensak
David Pensak was born in Princeton, New Jersey and attended Princeton University, graduating summa cum laude in Chemistry in 1969. From there he went to Harvard University where he earned a Ph.D. in organic chemistry working for Professor E.J. Corey on the use of artificial intelligence in the design of the synthesis of complex molecules. In 1974 he moved to Wilmington, Delaware and joined the Central Research Department at DuPont. Over the next 30 years he held positions of increasing responsibility in the corporate research function, retiring in 2004 as the Chief Computer Scientist.
While at DuPont, he founded Raptor Systems which produced the commercially successful internet firewall. Raptor went public in 1996 and was sold to Axent Technologies in 1998 (which was then acquired by Symantec in 2000).
Concurrent with this, he founded Authentica, which was acquired by EMC in 2006. Authentica was a pioneer in the field of digital rights management.
In 2005 he joined the faculty at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania where he developed a course entitled "Innovention - the Processes of Innovation and Invention". This course became the foundation of his book entitled "Innovation for Underdogs" which was published in 2008.
At present, David is simultaneously on the faculties of the George Washington University School of Law in their Creative and Innovative Economies Center and the University of Delaware Business School. Part of his function at GWU is to teach innovation to developing countries and in the last year he has taught in Thailand, Jordan, Brazil, and India. At Delaware he teaches a course on the practical aspects of innovation.
The premise of his research and his consulting practice is that there are logical ways to identify opportunities for innovation - that innovation is not a skill you are either born with or you are not. His methodologies have been applied to groups of all ages, ranging from elementary school children to senior government officials.
He is already writing his next book which will be entitled "Those Who Do Not Study History Have No Chance of Repeating It". The premise of that book is that we need to understand the context in which some of the world's most significant innovators found their ideas and were able to run with them.
Our schools have taught that you either succeed or fail when you are trying to do something (like innovation). This is not correct, you can succeed, you can not succeed, or you can fail. In the middle alternative, you have done everything correctly but forces beyond your control kept you from full commercial success. Once you get an innovator past the fear of failing, he or she will develop much better self image and will have a greater chance of success.