Shawn Lawrence Otto | Bio

Leadership

Shawn Lawrence Otto is an award-winning science advocate and humanitarian who works for smarter politics on a global scale.  He organized a national science debate between Barack Obama and John McCain that was the largest political initiative in the history of science, which has been emulated in other nations.  He is a regular speaker at science events.  His book FOOL ME TWICE: Fighting the Assault on Science in America, was published in 2011, and won the 2012 Minnesota Book Award.  His message is that science lies at the center of our great unsolved chllenges and we have to find a better way of incorporating it into democracy.

Filmmaking

Shawn is also the writer and coproducer of the Oscar-nominated film HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG starring Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly.  He writes for film and TV's top studios, including DreamWorks, Lions Gate, and Starz. Otto recently sold a TV pilot to Starz and is directing his films DREAMS OF A DYING HEART, produced by Killer Films, and SINS OF OUR FATHERS produced by New Globe Films and Scarlet Fire Entertainment.

Speaking

Otto is a speaker at big think, policy and science conferences, in churches and on TV and radio.  His theme - that the world's major unsolved challenges revolve around science and are posing a unique challenge to democracy - has inspired hundreds of thousands of readers and audience members around the world to find news ways to take control of their governments and get unstuck from previously intractable problems.

Publication

In addition to his book and movies, Otto's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Science, Issues in Science and Technology, Salon, Huffington Post, Minnpost, New Scientist, Scientific American, Nature Medicine, and others, and he writes a blog, Neorenaissance, on the antiscience beat and the intersection of knowledge, politics, art and culture.

Service

Shawn has served in an advisory capacity for the National Academy of Sciences and the Union of Concerned Scientists' new Center for Science and Democracy.  He is the immediate past board chair of the Loft Literary Center, America's leading literary center, where he was architect of their Loft 2.0 technology transition to online course and conference delivery.  He is the committee chair for his local boy scout troop and past board chair of other nonprofit organizations.  He is a member of the AAAS, Mensa, the Writer's Guild of America, Phi Beta Kappa, and the Society of Environmental Journalists.

Awards

Shawn is the recipient of the 2009 National Distinguished Public Service Award of the IEEE-USA (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers - the world's largest professional association for the advancement of technology). 

His book Fool Me Twice received starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, and won the Minnesota Book Award.

He was a PEN Center USA finalist for his film House of Sand and Fog, which was nominated for three Academy Awards. He was awarded an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation fellowship for best science screenplay; and a McKnight Fellowship for best screenplay.  He has received other speaker awards and volunteer service awards from organizations he has served.

Personal

Otto is married to Minnesota State Auditor Rebecca Otto, and the couple have one son.  Otto designed their passive solar, wind-powered, geothermal green home, "Breezy," and the couple built it with their own hands.   It has been toured by more than 10,000 people as an example of green architecture.

Shawn was a National Merit Scholar who graduated a year early from high school and attended the University of Minnesota at age 16.  He is an Eagle Scout and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.  He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Macalester College, where he also taught while a student.  He is a veteran political consultant, strategist and manager of political campaigns.

Shawn Otto grew up in Golden Valley, Minnesota, USA, a small suburb immediately West of Minneapolis. His mother, Lilly, is an immigrant from Berlin, Germany and his father, Allan, a native of Minneapolis. Shawn was the second of four children, and the only boy. His older sister, Suli, was physically and mentally handicapped and Shawn began studying architecture as a pre-teen in order to design homes that could better accommodate her wheelchair and other special needs. Suli died a few days after his fourteenth birthday. His two younger sisters are Simone and Sonia. Simone is studying for a PhD in neuroscience and Sonia works in the insurance industry. Shawn also has two sisters from Allan's second marriage to Carolyn Ludwig, Erika, a professional photographer, and Kristen, a journal editor for a gifted children education organization.

Otto enjoys scuba diving, snorkeling, cross-country skiing, backpacking, canoe treks in the Boundary Waters, mountain hiking, world travel, sailing, snorkeling, great cuisine, a good book, a great movie, a good conversation, beautiful art, fine wine, great writing, amazing science, woodworking, and family.