Matt Schmidt '98, an assistant professor of political science at the U.S. Army School of Advanced Military Studies, has been named by Fast Company magazine as one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business for 2012. Amazingly, adds Nancy Platt, the strategic communications advisor for the U.S. Army's Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Schmidt is the only one on the list not actually in business, and from the military.
The issue surrounds Schmidt (listed at an impressive #22) with some well-known creative thinkers and entertainers including R&B singer and TV's The Voice judge Ceelo Green (#5), Adam Brotman, the chief digital officer for Starbucks (#3), Ron Johnson, CEO of JCPenney (#4), and actress and entrepreneur Jessica Alba, co-founder of The Honest Company (#17).
Platt says Schmidt is part of the Command and General Staff College's integrated planning team that teaches the process of design, and how to implement it into real world situations. The team recently partnered with national design firms Populous and Safdie, and local firm TwoWest, to show the SAMS officers that what they are learning isn't that different from what is being used by their civilian counterparts.
Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business 2012 issue hits newsstands on Tuesday, May 22. But an outtake of Schmidt's profile in the issue can be viewed now online.