Dr. Anthony J. Margida is a visionary and accomplished innovation architect with over 30 years of experience in customizing design thinking and human-centered innovation programs for communities, universities, and corporations. His expertise spans organizational strategy development, transformational product development, entrepreneurial service organization design, and community development. As the founder and leader of CentreWorks, an award-winning initiative in central Kentucky, Dr. Margida led community-based innovation challenges addressing food deserts, city parking, and pedestrian safety. He also facilitated small business innovations for numerous startups.

During his tenure as CEO of the Akron Global Business Accelerator, he transformed it into an entrepreneurial super-hub, creating 450 new jobs, securing $75 million in equity investment, and obtaining over $10 million in grant funding for multi-year operations. In his role as Director of Technology at HB Fuller, Dr. Margida developed and globally commercialized a water-based footwear adhesive, providing an alternative to a widely abused toluene-based staple. At LORD Corporation (a division of Parker), his innovations were pivotal in launching the Magnetorheological Fluid (MR) business. 

His MR patents being core to GM’s Magneride suspensions on over one million vehicles. A nationally recognized thought leader, Dr. Margida serves on the US Council on Competitiveness and has been a member of its National Innovation Council. He has presented at conferences for the International Business Innovation Association (INBIA) and the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). Dr. Margida is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the College of Wooster, holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Akron, and received business education from the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School.