Judson French, Jr. is a digital media executive, technology/business/education strategist and speaker with over 20 years experience applying state-of-the-art digital technologies in creative new ways which open minds, markets and opportunities.
He just concluded his role as Executive Producer for the Orlando Science Center’s Otronicon, a 10 day exhibition and educational initiative on the science and technology of videogames and simulation. He accomplished this through his media technology and training consultancy, Strategic Services International Inc. (SSII).
He is also a founding partner and Executive Director of the Interactive Entertainment Institute LLC (IEI). IEI was created to serve as a catalyst for synergism between the games industry and closely related government, academic, military, education, entertainment and modeling & simulation sectors and disciplines. He served as Executive Producer and Conference Chairman of its first international G.A.M.E.S. Synergy Summit™ conference/exhibition, held in January 2005.
Jud is also a founding Board member and Executive Director of Florida’s non-profit digital media industry association, Digital Media Alliance Florida, Inc. (DMAF), and co-chair’s the Florida Digital Media Education Consortium with Dr. Darlene Wolfe, of Orange County Public Schools.
Having founded his first corporation in high school, Jud has gone on to senior management and executive positions in organizations ranging from Fortune 500 defense and technology firms (Westinghouse, Northrop-Grumman and Harris Corporation) to strategy and training consultancies, creative media and broadcasting organizations, and non-profit associations; always focused on the effective introduction and implementation of leading edge technologies for new applications and markets. While at Johns Hopkins University, Jud served as Chief Engineer, then General Manager, of WJHU-AM/FM in Baltimore, Maryland where he led the station’s conversion to FM broadcasting.
During his 15 years in advanced development, program management and international business development for the defense industry, Jud managed R&D groups and advanced development teams, directed Westinghouse Electronic Systems’ Center for Commercial Product Development, and led product, process and business development efforts to commercialize “dual-use” defense technologies.
Jud then served as Corporate Director, Digital Television for Harris Corporation where he led their DTV product line rollout and pioneered their datacasting initiatives. As originator and Executive Director of the award winning Harris/PBS DTV Express SM, Jud partnered Harris with the United States’ Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) to create and operate a major nationwide educational initiative on the transition to digital television. The 49-city tour and training program demonstrated all aspects of digital TV to more than twenty-two thousand participants and trained over 2400 industry executives and professionals. He was elected to the Board of the Advanced Television Forum (ATV), chairing their interactive television educational initiatives.
In his roles as both association executive and industry representative/board member, Jud has organized, chaired and produced numerous conferences and workshops, including The Money & Media Show™ 2004 (Executive Director), the ATV W3 International Content Symposium (Conference Chairman), the eTV Workshops for the International Electronic Cinema Festival, the DMAF 2003 DiMeNar Series (Producer/Chair) and many others.
He served on Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s IT Task Force and 21st Century Digital TV and Education Task Force, Orlando Mayor Glenda Hood’s High Technology Advisory Board, and the American Defense Preparedness Association’s Security Division Board. He recently served on a National Science Foundation review panel on Elementary, Secondary and Informal Science Education. He presently serves on the advisory boards of the Digital Animation and Visual Effects (DAVE) School, Full Sail Real World Education’s Digital Arts and Design program, Valencia Community College’s Digital Media Technology program, MultiChannel Ventures, and Orlando Tech’s Computer 3-D Animation and Television Production programs. He also assisted with the development of the digital media curriculum for Seminole Community College through their DACUM process.
Jud has provided expert commentary for numerous national broadcast outlets and publications including ABC World News Tonight, CNBC, CNNfn, MSNBC, The Discovery Channel, CNET, The Wall Street Journal, the San Francisco Chronicle, Stereophile Guide to Home Theater, TV Technology and many others. He is a frequent speaker and moderator at digital media conferences and seminars. Examples include the International Electronic Cinema Festival, where he served on the U.S. Organizing Committee, Il Fórum de Programação Pay TV (Brazil), Herring on Hollywood, the Kagan Digital Household Summit, and the Portland Creative Conference. He has written columns and articles for Communications Technology, Interactive Quarterly, CREATE Magazine, and DigitalBroadcasting.com.
Jud, along with Brooks Robinson and Jim Palmer, was also a member of the on-air broadcast team for the world’s first high definition broadcast of a major league baseball game (Baltimore Orioles vs. Cleveland Indians, live from Camden yards, Sept. 16, 1997) landing Jud in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Jud holds a B.E.S. (E.E.) degree from the Johns Hopkins University, where he served on the Board of the Engineering Alumni Association. He is a member of the American Society of Association Executives, the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), the National Training Systems Association (NTSA) and the National Center for Simulation (NCS).