Mary Frances De Rose

designer philanthropist researcher writer Clinical Professor

1957

Denver, Colorado, United States

Since 1986, De Rose has served as director of the Perisphere Institute, a professional services division of Perisphere Partnership, where she has led a wide range of initiatives integrating design, public health, and social policy. Her work includes the development of the VESTA Project, which has modified more than 7,000 homes and created over 11,000 enriched environments for individuals with neurological challenges. She also contributed to the expansion of the VESTA Caregiving Network, supporting over 12,000 members through telehealth, education, and advocacy services. Through VESTA Consulting, she has worked on community planning and evaluation projects in 52 cities across 32 countries, applying frameworks such as spatial justice, behavioral design, and smart city development. She has also overseen interdisciplinary innovation through initiatives such as VESTA Lab, VESTA Tech—resulting in multiple patents—and Perisphere Predictive Analytics, focusing on data science, AI, and economic modeling. Since 1996, she has been a trustee of Fortis Fellowships (formerly the Columbiana Endowment), managing the selection and distribution of ten annual awards totaling $1.3 million for individuals demonstrating moral and intellectual integrity in academia and the third sector. Beginning in 2006, she became a partner in P2S, the philanthropy management division of Perisphere Partnership, working with clients across media, sports, and design industries to fund social-sector initiatives. In 2016, she also became principal of EthicsWorks@Perisphere, an educational division bringing together experts from disciplines including medicine, law, engineering, and the arts to address complex global challenges. Her public service roles include serving as Researcher-in-Residence at the RFK Policy Institute at the White House (2021–2025), Co-Director of the EDJ Collaboratory in Boston, New York, and Washington, DC (2020–2022), and Chief Mission Officer at Design for the Greater Good (2019–2021). She was a Distinguished Fellow at the Barnes Trust (2018–2020) and an ethics advisor to university executives through Summa (2016–2020). Between 2016 and 2018, she served as Co-Principal Investigator on AD², a research initiative focused on anticipatory design and Alzheimer’s disease at Harvard and the University of Massachusetts. From 2015 to 2017, she was Founding Global Director of the Arts & Health Policy Fellowship, and from 2015 to 2016, she chaired the Western States Education Endowment. Earlier in her career, she held positions including Lifespan Design Visiting Scholar at the National Building Museum and National Institutes of Health (2014–2015), Stein Cross-Sector Fellow at the White House (2011–2015), and Co-Chair of a doctoral fellowship in environmental gerontology and lifespan design (2010–2015). From 2005 to 2009, she worked as principal at DRMK Sullivan+Partners in Oak Park. She also held postdoctoral and fellowship roles at institutions including the University of Chicago, Yale, NYU, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and Columbia University between 1994 and 2005. Between 1976 and 1993, her early career included roles as a Fulbright scholar, McKinsey analyst, legislative policy strategist, and interdisciplinary designer working across architecture, urban design, and product design. During this period, she also worked in film and theater production, arts administration, academic publishing, and museum consulting, while contributing to public policy and social research initiatives. Teaching De Rose has over 20 years of teaching experience at the master’s and doctoral levels at Ivy League and other R1 universities, focusing on design, policy, ethics, and interdisciplinary research.

Mary Frances De Rose

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designer philanthropist researcher writer Clinical Professor

Background

Mary Frances De Rose was born in Denver, Colorado.

Education

De Rose pursued extensive interdisciplinary education across design, policy, law, and health-related fields, earning multiple advanced degrees including DPhil, PhD, PsyD, MArchUD, and JD.

Career

Since 1986, De Rose has served as director of the Perisphere Institute, a professional services division of Perisphere Partnership, where she has led a wide range of initiatives integrating design, public health, and social policy. Her work includes the development of the VESTA Project, which has modified more than 7,000 homes and created over 11,000 enriched environments for individuals with neurological challenges. She also contributed to the expansion of the VESTA Caregiving Network, supporting over 12,000 members through telehealth, education, and advocacy services.

Through VESTA Consulting, she has worked on community planning and evaluation projects in 52 cities across 32 countries, applying frameworks such as spatial justice, behavioral design, and smart city development. She has also overseen interdisciplinary innovation through initiatives such as VESTA Lab, VESTA Tech—resulting in multiple patents—and Perisphere Predictive Analytics, focusing on data science, AI, and economic modeling.

Since 1996, she has been a trustee of Fortis Fellowships (formerly the Columbiana Endowment), managing the selection and distribution of ten annual awards totaling $1.3 million for individuals demonstrating moral and intellectual integrity in academia and the third sector.

Beginning in 2006, she became a partner in P2S, the philanthropy management division of Perisphere Partnership, working with clients across media, sports, and design industries to fund social-sector initiatives. In 2016, she also became principal of EthicsWorks@Perisphere, an educational division bringing together experts from disciplines including medicine, law, engineering, and the arts to address complex global challenges.

Her public service roles include serving as Researcher-in-Residence at the RFK Policy Institute at the White House (2021–2025), Co-Director of the EDJ Collaboratory in Boston, New York, and Washington, DC (2020–2022), and Chief Mission Officer at Design for the Greater Good (2019–2021). She was a Distinguished Fellow at the Barnes Trust (2018–2020) and an ethics advisor to university executives through Summa (2016–2020).

Between 2016 and 2018, she served as Co-Principal Investigator on AD², a research initiative focused on anticipatory design and Alzheimer’s disease at Harvard and the University of Massachusetts. From 2015 to 2017, she was Founding Global Director of the Arts & Health Policy Fellowship, and from 2015 to 2016, she chaired the Western States Education Endowment.

Earlier in her career, she held positions including Lifespan Design Visiting Scholar at the National Building Museum and National Institutes of Health (2014–2015), Stein Cross-Sector Fellow at the White House (2011–2015), and Co-Chair of a doctoral fellowship in environmental gerontology and lifespan design (2010–2015).

From 2005 to 2009, she worked as principal at DRMK Sullivan+Partners in Oak Park. She also held postdoctoral and fellowship roles at institutions including the University of Chicago, Yale, NYU, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and Columbia University between 1994 and 2005.

Between 1976 and 1993, her early career included roles as a Fulbright scholar, McKinsey analyst, legislative policy strategist, and interdisciplinary designer working across architecture, urban design, and product design. During this period, she also worked in film and theater production, arts administration, academic publishing, and museum consulting, while contributing to public policy and social research initiatives.

Teaching

De Rose has over 20 years of teaching experience at the master’s and doctoral levels at Ivy League and other R1 universities, focusing on design, policy, ethics, and interdisciplinary research.

Achievements

Her honors include numerous fellowships, grants, and awards recognizing her contributions to ethics, public policy, design, and human development. These include the Neugarten Prize in Human Development and Policy, the Wexler Prize for Ethics in Executive Service, the Masterson Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Human Rights and Social Justice, and the Vanguard Award for Place-Based Philanthropy. She has also received multiple research fellowships supporting work in neuroscience, environmental gerontology, and interdisciplinary systems theory.

Membership

De Rose is affiliated with several professional and academic organizations, including the White House Alumni Service Network, Yale Alumni Association, Cambridge Neuroscience Society, Writers Guild of America, and Balliol Interdisciplinary Institute.

Connections

She is married to Alex Reed, a physician and public health expert, and is the mother of Madeleine and Steven Francis.

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