Founded in 1954, CEF is the recognized world leader in Applied Imagination. Alex Osborn, an adman and educator, not only founded CEF, but also invented brainstorming and co-founded the ad firm, BBDO. His classic book, Applied Imagination, continues to inspire the work of CEF.
Along with Sidney Parnes, Osborn developed the Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem Solving Process. For more than 50 years, CEF has been teaching adults and children in organizations, schools and communities how to use this proven process to develop new ideas, solve problems and implement solutions.
Read more about our Founder Alex F. Osborn…
CEF Milestones:
1954 – Alex Osborn, legendary advertising executive and coiner of the term “brainstorming”, establishes the Creative Education Foundation.
1955 – CEF holds the first annual Creative Problem Solving Institute (CPSI) at the University of Buffalo, attracting 200 participants. Professor Sid Parnes joins Osborn to develop a comprehensive educational program for the Institute.
1960 – CEF sponsors a Leadership Convocation, bringing together the pioneers of the creative thinking movement, including Calvin Taylor, J.P. Guilford, E. Paul Torrance, and Donald MacKinnon.
1961 – CPSI inaugurates Leadership Training Program. CEF offers the first of a series of programs to US Army Generals the US State Department Policy Planning Council.
1962 – Parnes and Harold Harding edit the first definitive edition of Creative Thinking.
1963 – CEF commences a three-year project, under a major grant from the US Office of Education, to study the deliberate development of CPS at Buffalo State College.
1966 – Osborn dies, leaving Parnes at the helm of the Foundation. CEF sponsored the nation’s first graduate course in Creative Studies at Buffalo State University College.
1967 – CEF launches the Journal of Creative Behavior, the first research publication devoted entirely to the science of creativity. Parnes publishes the work of the Institute’s creative training programs in Creative Behavior Guidebook and Creative Behavior Workbook.
1969 – CEF begins a three-year sponsorship of the most comprehensive longitudinal research ever conducted on the development of deliberate creativity at Buffalo State College.
1972 – Sidney Shore launches Creativity in Action, CEF’s monthly newsletter. A series of regional problem solving institutes is launched in California, Washington, Minnesota, Connecticut, Florida, and Arizona.
1975 – CEF sponsors the Master of Science degree in Creative Studies at Buffalo State University.
1978 – CEF publishes The Magic of Your Mind (Parnes), The Search for Satori and Creativity (Torrance), Way Beyond the IQ (Guilford), In Search of Human Effectiveness (MacKinnon), and Creativity and Psychological Health (Barron).
1979 – CEF celebrates its 25th anniversary. Over 700 participants attend CPSI’s Summerfest in Buffalo, and 200 more attend its Winterfest in San Diego. CPSI now offers four major program streams: Springboard for novices, Leadership Development Program, CPSI YouthWise, and Extending sessions for exploratory studies.
1980 – CEF inaugurates Visioning Workshops at Disney World’s Epcot Center in Florida.
1981 – CEF and Buffalo State College sponsor Creative Studies as a Certificate Program to the University of California at San Diego.
1985 – CEF partners with the US Small Business Administration to sponsor the National Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference. CEF launches its Speakers’ Bureau.
1987 – Incoming CEO John Meyerhoff expands CEF’s educational perspective to include business training. In Perspective, a quarterly publication for Institute Alumni launched by Tom Kuby.
1989 – CPSI goes global with its first Australian Creative Problem Solving Institute and promotion in South America and Europe. Doris Shallcross initiates two major programs: the President’s Convocation to exchange leading edge thinking in the field of creativity, and Global Odyssey to bring young people from around the globe to CPSI.
1990 -CEF launches CEF Press to enable the Foundation to become an international clearinghouse for publications in the field of creativity.
1992 – CEF Publishes Parnes’ Sourcebook for Creative Problem Solving, a mini-encyclopedia of deliberate creativity techniques.
1994 – CEF celebrates its 40th Anniversary with the publication of a commemorative history of the organization.
1998 – CEF offers VIP Days at CPSI Summerfest to introduce local and national government leaders to CPS.
1999 – First Encyclopedia of Creativity includes section on “Programs and Courses in Creativity”, featuring CPSI, CPS, and the CEF.
2003 – Partnering with the Paul Roos Akademie in Stellenbosch, CEF Launches CEF YouthWise in South Africa. CEF will conduct the program in South Africa each year through 2008.
2004 – CEF celebrates its 50th annual Creative Problem Solving Institute in Grand Island, Buffalo, New York.
2005 – Victoria Cliche hired as Executive Director
2007 – CEF reestablishes CEF Consulting and Training. The Journal of Creative Behavior becomes available on-line. The first group of youth, twenty-one boys, graduate from the Paul Roos Akademie.
2008 – CEF moves to Amherst, MA. Second group of youth (twenty five boys and girls) graduate from the Paul Roos Akademie. Creativity Pioneer Ruth Noller dies.
