Jerome C. Glenn (born August 9, 1945) is a

futurist Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities abo ...

who serves as the executive director of the Millennium Project. He has been the executive director of the American Council for the

United Nations University The (UNU) is the think tank and academic arm of the United Nations. Headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, with diplomatic status as a UN institution, its mission is to help resolve global issues related to human development and welfare thr ...

(1988–2007) and the deputy director of Partnership for Productivity International.

Early life

Glenn graduated from American University with a BA in Philosophy (1968) and

Antioch University New England Antioch University New England is a private graduate school located in Keene, New Hampshire, United States. It is part of the Antioch University system, a private, non-profit, 501(c)(3) institution that includes campuses in Seattle, Washington; ...

with an MA in Teaching Social Science where he created Futuristic Curriculum (1971). In 1972 Glenn invented the

Futures Wheel The futures wheel is a method for graphical visualisation of direct and indirect future consequences of a particular change or development. It was invented by Jerome C. Glenn in 1971, when he was a student at the Antioch Graduate School of Educ ...

, a new method of brainstorming about the future, and in 1973 he coined the term "futuring." He was a Peace Corps Volunteer 1968 to 1970 focused on how tropical medicine and management can be used to combat

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damag ...

; his efforts led ''Saturday Review'' to label Glenn as one of America's most gifted leaders in a 1974 article.

Career

Jerome (Jerry) Glenn was the SYNCON coordinator for The Committee for the Future (1973-1975) and a founding partner of Future Options Room (FOR) in 1975 with Roy Mason and Scott Dankman Joy. FOR was one of the first futures consulting firms and had

Alvin Toffler Alvin Eugene Toffler (October 4, 1928 – June 27, 2016) was an American writer, futurist, and businessman known for his works discussing modern technologies, including the digital revolution and the communication revolution, with emphasis on t ...

Herman Kahn Herman Kahn (February 15, 1922 – July 7, 1983) was a founder of the Hudson Institute and one of the preeminent futurists of the latter part of the twentieth century. He originally came to prominence as a military strategist and systems theo ...

, Ted Gordon, and other leading futurists on its board. Glenn helped to craft the section of the

SALT II The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) were two rounds of bilateral conferences and corresponding international treaties involving the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cold War superpowers dealt with arms control in two rounds o ...

treaty (1979) that prohibited the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

from deploying its

Fractional Orbital Bombardment System A Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS) is a warhead delivery system that uses a low earth orbit towards its target destination. Just before reaching the target, it deorbits through a retrograde engine burn. Mark ZastrowHow does China’s ...

. In 1983 he created CARINET, a computer network that CGNET Services International later acquired, and through CARINET he introduced data packet switching to numerous countries in the developing world. In 1996 Glenn and Theodore J. Gordon wrote a report in cooperation with the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

and the Futures Group (rebranded as Palladium International) about the feasibility of establishing a futures

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

; later that year he co-founded the Millennium Project, an organization that evaluates 15 global challenges to the future of humanity. He authors an annual publication, ''State of the Future,'' on behalf of the Millennium Project, and in the book he uses a compilation of various methodologies in order to ensure effective forecasting. As Director of the Millennium Project he consults governments, organizations, and corporations about his forecasting methodology and on other issues, such as defense and technology.; His work has been cited over 3,300 times according to Google Scholar.

Opinions

Glenn believes that horizontal organizational structures are more effective than vertical ones. He declared, "The future of management is not based on a hierarchical structure, but on connecting different lines of action through nodes." According to Glenn, such human cooperation is necessary in order to create collective intelligence. Consequently, he has praised Wikipedia as a model for how to use international cooperation as a way to foster collective intelligence. Glenn also argues that the 15 global challenges that he identifies are all interrelated. From his perspective, improvements in one area (such as access to clean water) will lead to advances in others (such as the rich-poor gap). Hence, Glenn believes that these issues need to be solved simultaneously. His preferred future is Conscious-Technology Civilization with a Self-Actualization Economy. Glenn has also referred to the future of Africa " Many tribal power zero-sum games will continue, but eventually, the African Union will become more effective and help the more peaceful development of the continent."

Selected publications

State of the Future 19.1
(2018)
Environmental Security Rising on the International Agenda
(2015)
Collective intelligence systems and an application by The Millennium Project for the Egyptian Academy of Scientific Research and Technology
(2013)

(2012)
The Year 3000 Six Scenarii on the Future of Humanity
(2011)
Three alternative Middle East peace scenarios
(2005)
The world in 2050: a normative scenario
(1999)

(1978)

References

External links

The Millennium Project

Global Futures Intelligence System
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glenn, Jerome C. Futurologists 1945 births Living people American University alumni Antioch University New England alumni