James Intriligator

James Intriligator is a Professor of the Practice in the Department of Mechanical Engineering (School of Engineering) at Tufts University. An interest in vision and the brain originally brought James to Harvard where he earned his Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience (1997). After a postdoc in neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, he left academia for five years and worked in venture capital and high-tech consulting firms as an entrepreneur, offerings designer, and innovation catalyst. In 2003, he merged his business experience with his scientific expertise and went to Bangor University (Wales, UK) as a pioneer in the field of consumer psychology. In his 13 years at Bangor, Intriligator created Europe's leading consumer psychology master's programs and co-developed several multidisciplinary design programs (Enterprise by Design and Social Enterprise Accelerator). In 2014 he was named a National Teaching Fellow (highest teaching honor in the UK).
Intriligator joined Tufts in 2016 to lead the university’s renowned Human Factors Engineering program into its next phase of innovation and growth. During his five years serving as the director of the Tufts Human Factors programs, the undergraduate program grew by 25%, the graduate program grew by 800%, he helped capture over $1m in grant funding, and he increased the visibility and collaborative activities of the program – both within the university and in the broader community. In 2021 Intriligator moved to a new role and he is now Director of Strategic Innovation for the department of Mechanical Engineering.
Intriligator is the author of over 50 publications in fields as diverse as neuroscience, neurology, consumer psychology, physics, and literary criticism. Since arriving at Tufts Intriligator has been nominated for a Tufts Distinction Award, shortlisted for Professor of the Year, and won a university-wide Teaching with Technology award. In addition, he has been a Tisch Faculty Fellow for two years (with Professor Kevin Oye), a member (and president) of the ExCollege board, and has served in numerous other roles across the University. In addition to his work at Tufts, Intriligator also serves on numerous national and international committees and groups and he is currently writing a book on design thinking (“Design Thinking and Transversal Design”), working on a variety of social-justice projects, and collaborating with a group of artists on a play about the life of Marie Curie (debuting in October 2021).

Personal Website: intriligator.com