The PISA Society

PISA is short for 'Public Intellectual Service & Advocacy'. It's a cute name for one of our most important and respected programs. PISA encourages and supports scientists, designers and cultural leaders to become more involved in public service and advocacy, from participating in civic panels and writing editorials to serving as subject matter experts in the media and running for public office. And yes, the fact that Pisa, Italy, home to people like Fibonacci, Galileo, Carducci and Fermi has been a city of famous science, design, and culture for centuries works well for us too.

Public intellectuals are individuals with extensive training and expertise in a particular discipline that speak or write publicly about their discipline to an audience outside their own field or industry. Some public intellectuals take their commentary beyond their own discipline and endeavor to relate their work to the larger social, economic, and political world around it. Albert Einstein, for example, was often asked to comment on art, politics, and religion in addition to his own work in physics. On rare occasions, public intellectuals are elected and/or are appointed to public office; Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany for example. With PISA, TSS encourages and supports scientists, designers, and cultural leaders to follow in Einsteins footsteps. To this end, TSS highlights public intellectuals, along with their ideas and activities on our website and other publications, provides networking and PR/Marketing support for public intellectuals, and occasionally organizes special forums and lectures for public intellectuals. Many of these individuals are inducted into TSS's PISA Society.

PISA Society
TSS's PISA Society is a collection of individuals that TSS has identified as public intellectuals who truly shape our future.

2007 PISA Society Inductees:
Maya Angelou
Noam Chomsky
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Jane Goodall
Katherine Hamnett
Tyrone Hayes
Michio Kaku
Angela Merkel
Lisa Randall
Bobby Sanabria
Vandana Shiva
Richard Swett