John Garrison

John Garrison, MBA and PhD, is a leading expert on the life and work of William Shakespeare. He is the author of seven books, including Shakespeare and the Afterlife and Shakespeare at Peace. The themes of his work examine how ideas from the Renaissance have long-reaching cultural influence on how we live today. Dr. Garrison is also the current and founding editor of the book series Spotlight on Shakespeare, which includes volumes that address the usefulness of Shakespeare for exploring issues such as environmental crisis, international conflict, and the cultural impacts of emergent technology. Islamophobia, linguistic racism, and sexual consent. Dr. Garrison has been awarded numerous prestigious awards for his work, including ones from the American Philosophical Society, Beinecke Library at Yale University, Medieval Academy of America, National Endowment for the Humanities, the Newberry Library, and the Renaissance Society of America. Most recently, he was named a 2021 Guggenheim fellow.

Prior to his career in academia, Dr. Garrison earned his MBA and held senior positions in both the corporate and nonprofit sectors. After working in the public affairs division of Kaiser Permanente and the global strategies division of Levi Strauss & Co., he launched his own branding and marketing consultancy. In that role, he conceived innovative programs for clients across an array of sectors from biotechnology to consumer electronics to hospitality. 

In his career in business, Dr. Garrison found that he was constantly returning to works of great literature to fund new approaches to challenges presented by adaptive workplaces and changing markets. His study of great literature was inspired by not only his awe at its emotional and intellectual power but also its capacity to inspire us to find new ways of working.