Leidy Klotz is an award-winning professor, international speaker, and acclaimed author whose groundbreaking research – published in both Nature and Science – has shifted our understanding of how to approach problems and create change. Leidy knows design – the craft of changing things from how they are to how we want them to be. Which, he reminds us, is something we all do every day. His book “SUBTRACT: The Untapped Science of Less” (2021) has translations in eight languages and has sparked breakthroughs in psychology, environment, business, well-being, and education. His next book, “IN A GOOD PLACE: How the Spaces Where We Live, Work, and Play Can Help Us Thrive” (2026), is available for pre-order.

Leidy has worked with clients ranging from the Departments of Energy and Homeland Security to CapitalOne and Amazon, and regularly presents at leading universities and organizations. He has been interviewed for Hidden Brain (NPR), Freakonomics, and The Atlantic. And he has written for The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Scientific American, and The Washington Post.

An experienced educator, Leidy has taught thousands of students as a professor at the University of Virginia, including 21 Ph.D. advisees whose designs and teaching shape the world. Diversity and inclusion are core tenets of Leidy’s work, as more than three quarters of his advisees are from groups underrepresented in their respective fields.