Franklin Becker, Ph.D., Director of the International Workplace Studies Program, Chairman of the Department of Design and Environmental Analysis in NYS College of Human Ecology, Cornell University, and professor in Facilities Planning and Management and Human-Environment Relations there, is a transplanted Californian. He is a recognized international expert on the planning, design, and management of innovative workplaces.

Viewing the workplace as a system comprised of physical settings, information technologies, work processes, and formal and informal organizational values, Professor Becker's research explores the critical success factors underlying high performance organizations. He has conducted research and lectured in the United States, Europe, England, and Japan.

William Sims, Ph.D., CFM, is professor of Facility Planning and Management and Human-Environment Relations at Cornell University and principal researcher for the IWSP. He came to Cornell, after numerous stops along the way from New Mexico.

Professor Sims is an expert in innovative approaches to planning, design and management of facilities to help organizations improve performance and reduce occupancy costs. He has conducted research, and lectured in North America, Europe and Japan. His research examines new ways of working, alternative workplaces and the facility design and management innovations that support the cross-functional teamwork, the increased communication, and the purposeful changes in corporate culture needed to achieve a high performance workplace.