Profile

Dr. Jack V. Matson

Professor Emeritus

Bio

Dr. Jack V. Matson, Emeritus Professor of Environmental Engineering at Penn State, is a prize winning innovator who developed courses in innovative design and entrepreneurship based on “Intelligent Fast Failure”. He brings an original and off-beat approach to teaching. His philosophy is to stimulate creativity by encouraging students to risk failure and that failure is essential to innovation. He centers his techniques on teaching people to unlearn years of practicing risk aversion by stressing the connection between creativity, innovation, and risk. His academic area of interest is in environmental engineering, and he is an expert in waste management, industrial water, wastewater treatment, and hazardous waste. He holds BS and MS degrees in Chemical Engineering and a PhD in Environmental Engineering from Rice University. As an entrepreneur, he has started up and is involved in three companies: Matson and Associates Inc., Envinity Inc., and Bhutopia LLC. Also, he has written a number of books on innovation including Innovate or Die!, Art of Innovation using Intelligent Fast Failure, and Breakthrough Innovation.