William R. Brody

William (Bill) Brody is a former president of Johns Hopkins University and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. As a Stanford professor of radiology and electrical engineering, he made pioneering contributions to CT, MRI, and ultrasound technologies at a time when medical engineering was still a nascent field — work that has since touched hundreds of millions of lives.

A serial entrepreneur, Bill co-founded four medical device companies, including Resonex, which produced revolutionary MRI machines. He has served on the boards of IBM, Novartis, Medtronic, and MIT, among others.

As a polymath and lifelong learner, Bill became a licensed pilot in his 50s, learned Mandarin at 62, and performed Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with the San Diego Symphony.

As president of Johns Hopkins, Bill made the unusual decision to teach a seminar to graduating seniors — a class he described as "Things you will need to know during your lifetime that you may not learn in the classroom." Uncommon Sense synthesizes a decade of those insights, woven together with personal experiences, colorful storytelling, and wit.