Edward de Bono - Biography

Biography

Edward Charles Francis Publius de Bono was born in Malta on 19 May 1933. His father, Joseph, was a Professor of Medicine, and was awarded a CBE. His mother, Josephine, was one of the first female journalists writing for The Times of Malta. Edward studied at St Edward's College in Malta. Nicknamed 'genius', he graduated at the age of 15. De Bono then gained a medical degree from the University of Malta. He was a Rhodes Scholar at Christ Church, Oxford, in England where he gained an M.A. degree in psychology and physiology whilst being a keen sportsman. Note a canoeing record, going from Oxford to London, a distance of 113 miles and crossing 33 locks in 33 hours. He played Polo for Oxford University with a Handicap of 2. He also has a Ph.D. degree and a D.Phil. degree in Medicine from Trinity College, Cambridge, a D.Des. degree (Doctor of Design) from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, and an LL.D. degree from the University of Dundee. De Bono is a member of the Medical Research Society and the Athenaeum Club.

He has held faculty appointments at the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, London and Harvard. He is a professor at Malta, Pretoria, Central England and Dublin City University. de Bono holds the Da Vinci Professor of Thinking chair at University of Advancing Technology in Phoenix, USA. He was one of the 27 Ambassadors for the European Year of Creativity and Innovation 2009.

De Bono was formerly married to Josephine Hall-White, with whom he has two sons. He continues to travel giving seminars on his work and to write. He lives in Malta and owns an apartment in Piccadilly, London (previous residents of which include the Victorian prime minister William Gladstone and the poet Lord Byron).

In 1969 de Bono founded the Cognitive Research Trust (CoRT). In 1979 he co-founded the Edward de Bono School of Thinking.

He has written 82 books with translations into 41 languages. He has taught his thinking methods to government agencies, corporate clients, organizations and individuals, privately or publicly in group sessions. He has started to set up the World Center for New Thinking, based in Malta, which he describes as a "kind of intellectual Red Cross".

In 1995, he created the futuristic documentary film, 2040: Possibilities by Edward de Bono, a lecture designed to prepare an audience of viewers released from a cryogenic freeze for contemporary (2040) society.

He is also seen by some as a philosopher and he is included in the book titled Malta's Philosophy & Philosophers by the philosopher, theologician and preacher Mark Montebello.

Edward de Bono has developed a range of thinking techniques, which emphasise thinking as a learnable skill and deliberate act. De Bono's techniques are used in companies like IBM and DuPont. Agencies offer corporate training courses based on his techniques such as think outside the box.