Nathan Myhrvold

Dr. Nathan Myhrvold founded Intellectual Ventures (IV) in 2000 and has led the company since then as its chief executive officer. Under Nathan’s leadership, IV has grown from a handful of entrepreneurs into the world’s preeminent invention and investment business. Along with Bill Gates, he created and oversees Global Good, a unit of IV that invents technologies for global health and development, and its Institute for Disease Modeling, a world leader in computational epidemiology. He is among IV’s most prolific inventors, with more than 800 U.S. patents awarded and several hundred patents pending.

Prior to founding IV, Nathan was chief strategist and chief technology officer at Microsoft. During his 14-year tenure there, he led multiple advanced technology and business development groups, and he founded Microsoft Research. Before joining Microsoft, he was cofounder and CEO of the software company Dynamical Systems Research. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at Cambridge University, where his cosmology research with Professor Stephen Hawking centered on quantum field theory and gravitation.

Nathan holds a doctorate in theoretical and mathematical physics and a master’s degree in mathematical economics from Princeton University. He has a master’s degree in geophysics and space physics and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of California, Los Angeles. He also attended culinary school in France, earning a Grande Diplome from Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne. He continues to publish scientific research in planetary science, paleontology, climate science, and other fields.

Combining his interests in food, science, and technology, Nathan founded The Cooking Lab in 2010 and has authored and published a series of books, including two five-volume cookbooks, Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking (2011) and Modernist Bread (2017). Both books were honored with James Beard Foundation awards.