Jackson Lab CEO to give lecture, piano recital in Portland on how to improve culture of innovation

PHOTO / LESLIE BOWMAN Dr. Edison Liu, president and CEO of The Jackson Laboratory, in a 2012 file photo.

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By Dylan Martin

If you worked for Jackson Laboratory, it wouldn’t take long to learn that its CEO and President Dr. Edison Liu isn’t just enmeshed in the world of science. Turns out, he’s also operating in another world that some would call its opposite: the world of art.

To Liu, utilizing both disciplines is integral to improving our culture of creativity and innovation, especially in Maine. That topic will be explored in a special presentation Liu will deliver on Thursday night in Portland, where he will not just give a lecture about how human beings are hardwired to create, but also break out his piano skills to underscore those points.

“We’ll be demonstrating how these ideas [of art and science] can be broken down so you can apply them to yourself as a business,” Jean Maginnis, founder and executive director of the Maine Center for Creativity, told Mainebiz. “It helps bring new perspective.”

Part lecture, part piano recital, Liu’s presentation will be the first of three events in the Maine Center for Creativity’s 2015 Creative Toolbox Series, which will explore “how the disciplines of science and art drive and complement each other while fostering innovation in business.”

Maginnis said that the events are geared towards people in the business community who are interested in learning or discussing how to facilitate innovation and creativity.

“Both science and the arts are an important part of methods you can use to develop innovative processes in a business,” she said, adding that the second and third events of this year’s series will focus on the art and science of food and craft beer, respectively.

Liu, who joined Jackson Lab in 2011, told Mainebiz in an email that when it comes to organizations that want be creative, “more structure is necessary.”

He said “the organizational creative framework requires understanding when an idea is novel and has potential.” He added, “This is the paradox of spontaneity and discipline. There is no question that a creative or innovative organization requires discipline to be able to execute a creative idea.”

At Jackson Lab, Liu said, the organization’s major focus is “the generation of novel ideas that will have a significant impact on human health. We have aggregated and brought together a collection of highly creative and motivated individuals who happen to be scientists and empower them with the platforms and the infrastructure to express their creative thoughts in science.”

The event begins at 5:30 p.m. at Hannaford Hall at the University of Southern Maine’s Portland campus. More information can be found here.