Daniel Burrus

Burrus was born at Portland, Oregon. He grew up in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area.

Daniel Burrus attended the Wisconsin State University-Oshkosh, where he graduated in 1971 with a bachelor's degree. Burrus and fellow student Bill Gray, during their senior year, were awarded a research grant from the United States Department of Education to establish a student training assistance program. He and Bill Gray were co-directors of the first federally funded program of its kind in the nation.[6] The program offered free tutoring for collegians with deficiencies in specific academic subjects, sample test files, class notes, textbook exchange, general information and referral, assistance in registration, and help in selection of courses and teachers.[6][7] While working on a graduate degree, Burrus became a science teacher (1971-1978). Early in his teaching career, he was nominated for an Educator of the Year Award[8] and went on to found and manage six businesses.

As founder and CEO of the research and consulting firm Burrus Research,[9] Burrus is an active futurist keynote speaker.[10] In 2017, Forbes magazine recognized his career as a "strategic advisor to executives from Fortune 500 companies"[4] given his role as a technology trends researcher.[5] Burrus has a worldwide reputation for anticipating technological change and its impact on the world of business. According to Denmark's Manage Magazine, he founded six separate companies between 1971 and 2009, including:

• Burrus Research Associates, Inc., president and founder, 1983–present
• Visionary Apps, LLC, 2009-2014
• Ultrasports, Inc., president and founder, 1982-1984
• Burrus Powered Gliders, Inc., president, 1979-1982
• Midwest Skynasaurs, president, 1982-1984
• Burrus Media Productions, president, 1978-1980

Three of these were regarded as national leaders in the U.S., five of which were profitable within the first year of their operation.[11]

Seven books reflect his authority as a disruptor and futurist most notably with the New York Times bestseller Flash Foresight: How to See the Invisible and Do the Impossible (2011).[12][13][14]: and the book The Anticipatory Organization. Burrus has delivered thousands of speeches as a professional speaker certified by the National Speakers Association (NSA).[15][16] The NSA Council of Peers Award for Excellence (CPAE) honored Burrus with its Speaker Hall of Fame Award.[17] Burrus has written more than a dozen books and has also written for the Harvard Business Review,[18] Wired magazine, The Huffington Post,[19] and LinkedIn, where he has more than a million subscribers as of 2020. As a blogger, he has also contributed to CNBC,[20] Big Think, Examiner.com, and Business 2 Community.

Daniel Burrus joined the National Board of Advisors at High Point University in 2015.[21]

Daniel Burrus invented Hard Trend Methodology as a component of his Anticipatory Organization Model.[22] His methodology for separating "hard trends" (trends that will happen) vs. "soft trends" (trends that might happen) was the subject of PBS television specials.[23][24] A "Hard Trend" is a projection based on measurable, tangible, and fully predictable facts, events, or objects. Strategy based on the certainty of Hard Trends is said to be low risk. A Soft Trend is a projection based on statistics that has the appearance of being tangible, fully predictable facts. Soft Trends are described as changeable.[25]

• Top 21 Speakers for the 21st Century by Successful Meetings Magazine[31]
• Top Five Futurists and Technology Speakers[32]
• CPAE Professional Speakers Hall of Fame, CSP, CPAE, 1990
• University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Distinguished Alumni Award, 2001
• Experimental Aircraft Association, Ultralight Division, founder
• Personal Robot Association, founder
• Cleary University, Honorary Doctor of Business, 2011
• University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Honorary Doctorate, 2017[33]

• Burrus Research