Marvin Cetron: Profile

Marvin J. Cetron, the founder of Forecasting International, is one of the foremost forecaster-futurists in the world. For more than 40 years, he has been a pioneer in corporate and government forecasting, developing many of the techniques that other forecasters now use daily. He remains one of the most active and respected practitioners in this field. In one recent review, a corporate client reported that no fewer than 95 percent of the specific forecasts Dr. Cetron had made for them a decade earlier had proved accurate. Thanks to that kind of success, he has served as an advisor to the White House in every administration, Republican and Democratic, from the time of President John F. Kennedy through the Clinton years. Just in the last two years Dr. Cetron has delivered keynote speeches or major lectures to venues including World Travel Market 2006 (keynote address and a second lecture), the Council of Scientific Society Presidents, the 58th Annual Cancer Symposium of the Society of Surgical Oncology, and the Property Management Association.

These and other accomplishments also have brought Dr. Cetron recognition in the academic community. He is a member of the Board of Advisors at both Pennsylvania State University and the University of Delaware. In addition, he is adjunct professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management, the Georgia Institute of Technology College of Engineering, and the American University Kogod School of Business.

During his 20-year career in R&D planning and forecasting with the U.S. Navy, Dr. Cetron was in charge of the design, development, and implementation of the most comprehensive technological forecast of the United States ever conducted. Since then, he has been a consultant to more than 400 of the Fortune 500 firms, 150 professional and academic organizations, and 100 government agencies, both in the United States and abroad. Past and present clients include Apple Computers, Best Western, Capital One, General Motors, GT&E, IBM, and Xerox. Government agencies he has advised include the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, and the Pentagon; the European Community, the Brazilian Ministry of Planning, the Kenyan Ministry of Finance, and the Indonesian Ministry of Economics.

U.S. News & World Report has identified Dr. Cetron as one of the nation’s foremost futurists; he was selected by the Institute of Industrial Engineers as one of the top ten industrial engineers in the U.S.; and he has been featured in countless magazines and newspapers. He has appeared regularly on every major television network, including such programs as “Today,” “Good Morning America,” “CBS Morning News,” “CNN Newsmaker Sunday,” “Crossfire,” and “Larry King Live.”

Dr. Cetron has written numerous articles, papers, and publications, including three-dozen books. His most popular works are Encounters with the Future: A Forecast of Life Into the 21st Century, The Future of American Business: The U.S. in World Competition, American Renaissance: Our Life at the Turn of the 21st Century, Educational Renaissance: Our Schools at the Turn of the 21st Century, and Crystal Globe: The Haves and the Have-Nots of the New World Order. The most significant may have been Terror 2000: The Future Face of Terrorism, circulated privately within the Pentagon.

Dr. Cetron earned a B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering from Pennsylvania State University, a M.S. degree in Production Management from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in Research and Development Management from American University.

At Forecasting International, he is supported by an international group of experts in the fields of management techniques, technological forecasting, strategic planning, technology assessment, R&D planning, project selection, resource allocation, economics, marketing, and the behavioral sciences.

"Dr. Cetron spent a lot of time beforehand to understand our needs and prepared a very detailed hard copy report and references so that the audience could prepare to discuss his presentation with him."
Versaterm (event booked by Speakers Platform)

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