A design colleague of mine once observed during a meeting, “When I am not sure who the designer is on a team, I listen for the person who is offering concrete ideas about solving problems, and I know that’s the designer.” If the field of educational communications and technology were that meeting, and if you were listening, you would most assuredly recognize Brad Hokanson as one of the designers. While he carries himself with quiet self-assurance (as befits a dedicated tango dancer!), he has never been one to brag about his accomplishments. What he has done throughout his career to date is look for concrete ways to support research and practice around design in this field. His academic home is in graphic design at the University of Minnesota, where Brad has not only established himself as a world-class teacher of design and creativity to undergraduate students campus-wide, conducted an active research agenda in design and creativity, and been recognized as an exceptional scholar, but has simultaneously offered generously of his time to AECT and the entire field of educational communications and technology. From the pre-internet showcase of instructional designs that he and Simon Hooper distributed via CD-ROM decades ago, to serving recently as President of AECT, he has stepped up over the years in multiple ways for the good of practitioners, scholars and students.

From my perspective, one of Brad’s most significant and enduring contributions to the field has been his leadership of the AECT Summer Research Symposium. When he took the reins of this special event, he brought with him his philosophy and his presence. His philosophy of inclusiveness, support and community development is signaled by the World Café protocol in which all participating authors both give and receive feedback on the accepted papers. The whole group of authors lift each other up in performance and in spirit, and I have witnessed more than once how Brad gently guides experienced authors toward the discussion tables of new authors. As symposium leader he makes it his business to get to know each participant and welcome each one into the community – as warmly at a third or fourth symposium as at the first. Each time I have participated in the symposium Brad has greeted me with a Diet Coke he has set aside for me (once from his sport coat pocket!), remembering that this is my not-so-secret vice and making sure I will get one. As he moves around the symposium venue, I notice that he connects with each participant individually, drawing everyone into the event. Brad’s attention to both inclusiveness and rigor has led to both high quality and broad representation in the publications resulting from the Symposium. Furthermore, he has reached out to others in the field to collaborate on organizing and leading the Symposium, and made space for student participants to engage in the event each year. He has brought in speakers and activities from outside the traditional boundaries of educational technology and applied his designer’s perspective to creating a valuable, signature event which has steadily elevated the research profile of AECT as an organization. Brad has, without a lot of fanfare, established – designed – the AECT Research Symposium as a generator of rigorous scholarship in the field while at the same time making every participant feel welcomed, valued, and included in the effort.