Dr. David Hanson is the founder and CEO of Hanson Robotics.
He has built a worldwide reputation for creating the world’s most expressive, interactive and human-like robots.
David got his start as a Walt Disney Imagineer, where he served as both sculptor and technical consultant. But it wasn’t long before he went on to build some of the world’s most renowned and unique androids, many of which have received massive media attention and professional acclaim.
As CEO and founder of Hanson Robotics, David leads our team of scientists, researchers, artists and executives toward his overarching vision: to build the world’s most intelligent, kind and empathetic robots, humanoids that will dramatically improve and transform life for every human being on the planet.
David is widely published in the academic arena, especially in the fields of robotics, materials science, artificial intelligence, cognitive science and cognitive science. His work has appeared in such journals as the SPIE, IEEE, The International Journal of Cognitive Science, IROS, AAAI, AI magazine and countless others.
In recent years, he’s become a frequent media commentator on robotics, ethics and AI .He’s been featured in The New York Times,Popular Science, Scientific American, PC Magazine, Wired, the BBC and CNN, to name just a few.
David’s received substantial honors and awards from such NASA, the National Science Foundation, AAAI, The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), his alma mater. Tech Titans named him Innovator of the Year and he is a Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial.
He won his Bachelors of Fine Arts in Film, Animation and Video from the Rhode Island School of Design. He earned his PhD in Interactive Arts and Engineering from the University of Texas at Dallas.
David lives in Hong Kong with his wife and teenaged son.
