Chris Hacker was born in 1951 and grew up in Ohio. In 1973 he earned a BS in industrial design from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, and Art.

Hacker has over 30 years of experience in product design, package design, and creative development, working for companies such as Warner Brothers Studios, Steuben Glass, Dansk International Design, GAF, J.C. Penney Company, and Henry Dreyfuss Associates.

From 2000 to 2005, he was the senior vice president of Global Marketing and Design at Aveda. Under his leadership, Aveda was awarded the 2004 National Design Award for Corporate Achievement from the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.

Since 2005, Hacker has worked as chief design officer for Johnson & Johnson’s Global Strategic Design office in New York City. He manages product, packaging, and retail design for businesses and brands such as Band-Aid, Neutrogena, Aveeno, Korres, Accuvue Contact Lenses, Target, Carrefour, and Tesco.

Hacker is a recognized expert in corporate design leadership and he is a frequent speaker on design, design sustainability, and the creative process. From 2008 to 2010, he was a trustee of the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, and from 2007 to 2008, he served on the board of directors for the New York Art Directors Club. He is currently the chairman of the Global Agenda Council for Design for the World Economic Forum.