​Professor Derek Cabrera, PhD (Cornell), is a systems scientist and cognitive scientist. He is a member of the faculty at Cornell University, where he served as Faculty Director for the Graduate Certification in Systems Thinking, Modeling, and Leadership (STML). He oversees the world’s largest Systems Thinking Conference at Cornell and is co-host of the Cabrera Lab Podcast, currently the top systems thinking podcast in the world and in the top 1% of all podcasts worldwide. He was a Research Fellow at the Santa Fe Institute (SFI) and a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow in Nonlinear Systems in the Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics at Cornell University.

In 2021, he was inducted into the IASCYS for his outstanding contributions to the field. In 2025, he was elected Secretary General of IASCYS. His work is supported by numerous grants from the National Science Foundation. He serves on the Systems Engineering Advisory Board at the United States Military Academy at West Point, on the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) Academic Advisory Council, and on the Science Board of the Systems Thinking Standards Institute (STSI)—the accrediting body for systems thinking standards based on scientific evidence of what works. He is a Black Belt certified Professional Systems Thinker®.

As co-founder of the “science-to-society” Cabrera Research Lab, Derek leads basic and applied research in complexity and cognition and promotes public understanding of systems thinking. He also developed TQ, the only validated systems thinking skills assessment test. He has delivered two TED Talks, holds three U.S. patents, and has authored a rap song and several children’s books on complex cognition. His publications include numerous book chapters, peer-reviewed journal articles, and eleven books, including the award-winning “Systems Thinking Made Simple,” “Thinking at Every Desk,” and “Flock Not Clock,” as well as his newest book, “Connect the Dots.”

Derek’s contributions have been recognized with numerous National Science Foundation and USDA grants, including two Innovation Research grants. He co-edited the “Handbook of Systems Thinking,” serves on the editorial board of the journal “Systems,” and the “Journal of Systems Thinking.” He is renowned for discovering cognitive and ontological universals (O-Theory and DSRP Theory) and organizational universals (VMCL Theory). His work is featured in peer-reviewed journals, trade magazines, and popular publications, and is documented in the full-length film “RE:Thinking.”

Derek was invited to develop online courses for the general public on LinkedIn Learning and eCornell, and he co-founded Plectica, where he created innovative software applications for systems mapping. As a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow, he advanced systems approaches in STEM evaluation and received the AAC&U’s K. Patricia Cross Future Educational Leaders Award. His systems models are utilized in numerous programs, organizations, and educational institutions, including Silicon Valley companies, Cornell University, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, special forces, professional athletes, and the U.S. Army War College.

Beyond academia, Derek has 35 years of experience as a mountain guide, having worked globally with Outward Bound and other organizations since 1988. As an early staff member of the Montana Conservation Corps (MCC), he helped build its initial programs and operational infrastructure and later its connection to the Restorative Justice movement. He remains active as a part-time mountain guide. Derek holds a PhD from Cornell University and resides in Montana with his wife, Laura Cabrera, their three children, and their three dogs.

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