Dan Hunter is the inventor of H-IQ, the first assessment of individual imagination and ideation. H-IQ provides students with practice generating ideas and teaches student metacognition. H-IQ was a finalist in Reimagine Education, the world's largest awards program for innovative pedagogies. Out of a field of 1100 applicants from all over the world, H-IQ was on the shortlist to win the award for "Breakthrough Educational Technology" in 2022. To develop H-IQ, Hunter has devoted ten years of study to the questions of improving creativity. He is the co-author with Dr. Rex Jung of A Call to More Imaginative Research into Creative Achievement, published in the peer-reviewed Creativity Research Journal, and A New Measure of Imagination Ability: Anatomical Brain Imaging Correlates, published in The Frontiers of Psychology, an international peer-reviewed journal. Hunter's understanding of creativity has been learned by practicing creative work, generating a steady flow of ideas as a songwriter, playwright, columnist, and political consultant. Hunter taught creative writing and playwriting at Boston University for 17 years. Hunter is an award-winning playwright, songwriter, teacher, and founding partner of Hunter Higgs, LLC, an education consulting firm. Hunter has served as managing director of the Boston Playwrights Theatre at Boston University, published numerous plays with Baker's Plays, and has performed topical humor in song on ABC, NPR, BBC, and CNN. Formerly executive director of the Massachusetts Advocates for the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities (MAASH), a statewide advocacy and education group, Hunter has 25 years of experience in politics and arts advocacy. He served as Director of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, a cabinet appointment requiring Senate confirmation. He is the author of several books of humor, including Let's Keep Des Moines a Private Joke, Iowa?...It's a State, and his most recent book Pandemic Panacea: Laughing through Quarantine.
