Quick Facts
Biography
Glen David Brin (born October 6, 1950) is an American scientist and award-winning author of science fiction. He has received the Hugo, Locus, Campbell and Nebula Awards. His Campbell Award-winning novel The Postman was adapted as a feature film and starred Kevin Costner in 1997. Brin's nonfiction book The Transparent Society won the Freedom of Speech Award of the American Library Association and the McGannon Communication Award.
Early life and education
Brin was born in Glendale, California in 1950. His Jewish ancestors came from Poland, from the area around Konin. His grandfather was drafted into the Russian army and fought in the Russian-Japanese War of 1905.
In 1973, Brin graduated from the California Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in astrophysics. At the University of California, San Diego, he earned a Master of Science in applied physics in 1978 and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in space science in 1981.
Career
Brin is a 2010 fellow of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. He helped establish the Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination (UCSD). He serves on the advisory board of NASA's Innovative and Advanced Concepts group and frequently does futurist consulting for corporations and government agencies.
Brin consults and speaks for a wide variety of groups interested in the future, ranging from Defense Department agencies and the CIA to Procter & Gamble, SAP, Google and other major corporations. He has also been a participant in discussions at the Philanthropy Roundtable and other groups seeking innovative problem solving approaches.
Brin has a very active side career in public speaking and consultation. He appears frequently on science or future related television shows such as "The Universe," "Life After People," "Alien Encounters," "Worlds of Tomorrow," and many others. He briefly was a regular on the challenge design show "The Architechs" in which "five geniuses" were challenged to solve a major problem (e.g. new ways in and out of burning buildings) in 48 hours.
He also serves on the Board of Advisors for the Museum of Science Fiction.
Personal life
Brin currently lives in southern California with his wife and children.