Laptop Creator Named Director of Smithsonian Museum

Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian's National Design Museum, has a new director and even if you don't recognize his name, you're probably familiar with a rather important piece of technology he helped create.

His name is Bill Moggridge, and he is credited with designing the first laptop, the Grid Compass, in 1980. Moggridge is also a co-founder of IDEO, the global design and innovation firm formed in 1991 through a merger of Moggridge's firm and two others.

"This is an enormous honor and opportunity for me," he said in a statement. "It is deeply satisfying that design is being embraced today as a way to tackle many of the complex challenges facing business and society."

Cooper-Hewitt was founded more than a century ago by three granddaughters of the industrialist Peter Cooper. It has been a branch of the Smithsonian since 1967 and is located on New York City's Upper East Side.

Jason Del Rey

Senior reporter Jason Del Rey covers technology, branding, and company culture for Inc. magazine and contributes to the From the Reporters daily blog. Before joining Inc., his work appeared in Newsday, The (Newark) Star-Ledger, and the Staten Island Advance, and on ESPN.com. He lives in New York City.