Fast Company Announces Annual List Of The 100 Most Creative People In Business

CHARLES ARNTZEN, THE GODFATHER OF "PHARMING," EARNS TOP RANK FOR "FIGHTING EBOLA WITH TOBACCO"

Amy Poehler, Thomas Heatherwick, Larry Wilmore, and Run the Jewels also make the list.

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May 11, 2015, 09:14 ET

NEW YORK, May 11, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Fast Company today announced its annual ranking of the 100 Most Creative People in Business for 2015, honoring an influential and diverse group of leading thinkers around the globe. Earning the No. 1 spot on the list this year is Charles Arntzen, whose work in the field of "pharming"—engineering plants to produce specialized vaccines and other drugs—led to the development of ZMapp, currently the most promising drug treatment for people infected with Ebola. Ranking No. 8 on the list "for making comedy grow," actress and producer Amy Poehler is featured on the issue's cover. All 100 creative leaders recognized in the 2015 list join the expanding community of Fast Company's Most Creative People 1000.

The 2015 honorees work within a vast range of industries, from tech and design to entertainment, media, government and non-profit, healthcare, and food, and they span the world from China to India, Colombia, and Iran. Select highlights of the list include:

Maria Claudia Lacouture, President of Procolombia, "for rebranding a country" (#4)
Jens Bergensten, Lead Creative Designer, Minecraft, "for holding the keys to the 100-million player kingdom" (#5)
Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director of World Food Programme, "for building tech-forward tools to tackle world hunger" (#14)
Martha Murray, orthopedic surgeon at Boston Children's Hospital, "for finally figuring out how to fix a torn ACL" (#15)
Thomas Heatherwick, designer and founder of Heatherwick Studio, "for collapsing the walls within design" (#24)
Kevin Weil, SVP of Product, Twitter, "for giving Twitter new wings" (#26)
Ava Duvernay, writer and director of Selma, "for showing an icon from all angles" (#32)
Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne, Designers and founders of Public School, "for putting street-wear on the runway" (#37-38)
Sree Sreenivasan, Chief Digital Officer at Metropolitan Museum of Art, "for liberating the museum from its physical walls" (#39)
Vian Dakhil, Iraqi parliament member, "for answering the call" (#41)
Larry Wilmore, host and executive producer of The Nightly Show, "for keeping it 100" (#44)
Megan Smith, CTO of the United States of America, "for getting the public sector up to speed" (#46)
Imran Amed, founder and CEO of The Business of Fashion, "for quantifying fashion's value" (#49)

The full list is available here: http://www.fastcompany.com/section/most-creative-people-2015

Introduced in 2009, The Most Creative People list was quickly established as one of Fast Company's most esteemed franchises. Each year, the magazine's editors present an all-new list of 100 chosen according to a proprietary methodology (honorees can't repeat and anyone previously profiled in the print magazine is excluded). The resulting group represents highly accomplished, dynamic individuals whose work and ideas are driving the world forward.

"Our goal is to discover and highlight the people around the world who are not just thinking differently, but also putting their ideas into action to create new opportunities, redefine the rules of modern business, and drive change within their own industries and beyond," said Fast Company editor Robert Safian. "In today's rapidly evolving world, it's creative and innovative leaders like these 100 who will continue to move the needle and inspire us all."

Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business issue (June 2015) is available online at http://www.fastcompany.com/section/most-creative-people-2015 as well as in app form via iTunes, and on newsstands beginning May 18.

ABOUT FAST COMPANY
Fast Company is one of the world's leading business media brands, with an editorial focus on creativity and innovation in technology, ethical economics, leadership, and design. Headquartered in New York City, Fast Company is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with our sister publication Inc. and can be found online at fastcompany.com.

SOURCE Fast Company