Our History
A Rich Tradition in Creativity Education
As the first and oldest degree granting program in creativity in the world, the foundation of ICSC dates back to Alex Osborn's seminal work in creativity education in the 1940s and 1950s. Osborn, the developer of brainstorming and the originator of the Creative Problem Solving process, saw the need for a more creative trend in American education and business. It was this vision and dream that eventually led to the establishment of the Center for Studies in Creativity at Buffalo State in 1967.
An experimental study carried out on the courses offered in the late 1960s and early 1970s, showed that those courses significantly enhanced undergraduate students' creative abilities, as well as improved their academic and nonacademic performance. Osborn's dream was fully realized when Dr. Sidney Parnes and Dr. Ruth Noller established a permanent academic home for the Creative Studies Program at Buffalo State.
