Ian is an internationally known author, consultant, and speaker specializing in long-term forecasting and planning with particular emphasis on health care and societal change. He combines research and consulting skills with an incisive Scottish wit to help public and private organizations plan their longer term future.

Ian has written, lectured, and consulted on a wide variety of forecasting, strategy, and health care topics for government, industry, and a variety of nonprofit agencies in North America, Europe and Asia. Ian has worked with more than 100 Fortune 500 companies in health care, information technology, and financial services. Project sponsors also include The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Commonwealth Fund, the Pew Memorial Trust, the Centers for Disease Control, the British Columbia Ministry of Health (Canada), and the World Health Organization. He is a frequent commentator on the future for television, radio, and the print media.

Ian has recently been retained by Andersen Consulting as Chairman of their Health Futures Forum. Ian is also a Senior Fellow at IFTF and was president of IFTF from 1990 to 1996, responsible for leading IFTF's growth and success over that period. Prior to becoming president, Ian led a IFTF's part in Health Care Outlook, an ongoing forecasting service for clients in the health care industry, along with joint venture partners from Louis Harris & Associates and the Harvard School of Public Health Policy and Management.

Before coming to IFTF in 1985, Ian spent seven years in British Columbia, Canada, in a variety of research, teaching, and consulting positions. He holds and interdisciplinary Ph.D. in urban studies from the University of British Columbia: an M.A. in geography from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and a graduate degree in urban planning from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England. He is a member of the Corporate Advisory Boards of Bristol-Myers Squib, Interim HealthCare, Benelytics, and Moneyhunter (the latter two are Internet start-ups). He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Interim Services, a leading temporary services company.