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source:entrepreneurship.ncsu
17 May, 1961
20 Nov, 2024
Suicide
American
Author
63
Marshall Brain was an American author, public speaker, futurist, businessman, and academic, who specialized in making complex topics easier to understand for the general public.
He was the founder of HowStuffWorks.com and the author of the How Stuff Works book series.
Brain was born on May 17, 1961, in Santa Monica, California, where his father designed components for Moon rockets.
Brain received a B.S. in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1983, and a M.S. in computer science from North Carolina State University.
Brain started his career as a lecturer. He taught in the computer science department at North Carolina State University from 1986 to 1992.
He also wrote computer programming manuals and ran a software training and consulting company.
In 1998, Brain left the teaching space to build a website HowStuffWorks.com. This originally started as a hobby before it transformed into a full-blown business.
In 2002, Brain sold a part of his related company, How Stuff Works Inc., to The Convex Group, an Atlanta-based investment company owned by former Web MD CEO Jeff Arnold, for an estimated $1 million.
Another company named Discovery purchased the website for $250 million in 2007 and introduced its television show How Stuff Works in 2008.
Brain also was a TV host. In 2008 and 2009, Brain hosted Factory Floor with Marshall Brain and the Who Knew? With Marshall Brain, both on the National Geographic channel.
With the shows, Brain was able to show viewers how products are designed, tested, and manufactured.
With a fantastic career like his, Brain also appeared on shows like The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Oz, Good Morning America, CNN, and Modern Marvels.
Brain was an author. He authored books such as The Second Intelligent Species: How Humans Will Become as Irrelevant as Cockroaches (2015) and Manna: Two Views of Humanity’s Future (2012), where he wrote about robotics, transhumanism, and atheism.
Brain last lectured at, and was the director of the Engineering Entrepreneurs Program at North Carolina State University. He worked on EcoPRT, a new transportation system, with Dr. Seth Hollar.
Brain married Leigh Ann. The couple had four children together.
Brain was found dead in his office at Centennial Campus on November 20, 2024, at the age of 63.
Marshall Brain
Marshall Brain
Male
Suicide
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.
Entrepreneur: Smart, energetic and very perceptive people, who truly enjoy living on the edge. Marshall Brain was a brilliant individual who always wanted to find out the mystery behind things and stuff.
He hosted the National Geographic channel's Factory Floor with Marshall Brain and Who Knew? With Marshall Brain.
He was the founder and author of HowStuffsWorks.
Brain was the founder of HowStuffWorks.com and the author of the How Stuff Works book series.