SCN Hall of Fame 2024: Nancy Knowlton
If you have been in a classroom, whether as an educator or student, there's a good chance you've seen Nancy Knowlton's contributions to the Pro AV world. She has been helping to transform education since she and her husband, David Martin, founded SMART Technologies in 1987.
[SCN Hall of Fame 2024: Andrew Cross]
When Knowlton isn't running Nureva—the company she and Martin started in 2014 where she is currently both president and CEO—you may find her in the kitchen as a self-proclaimed foodie. While she stays focused cooking up new (and healthy) recipes, perhaps it is the basketball courts where you can trace the beginnings of a work ethic that got her to where she is today. Knowlton played basketball for Bishop University in Quebec, Canada, and was one of Canada's top scorers. While others were out and about on the weekends, she was perfecting her craft.
"Every day I shot 200 free throws," Knowlton recollected. "And if the ball went through the net and it didn't come back to me, that didn't count. It had to go through the hoop, two bounces, and back in my hands to count as a made shot. I'm just a worker. I was a worker in sports as well. That's the ethic that got me where I was in basketball and then onward in life."
She earned her MBA from Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada—and having her own business was always one of Knowlton's goals. When she met her husband, whom she credits for bringing the technical side to the mix, it wasn't long before SMART Technologies was created.
It was the SMART Board interactive whiteboard that really put Knowlton on the map. "[Martin] imagined the SMART Board about four years before we ever brought a product into the market," Knowlton said. "We had the opportunity to license some technology for what was one of the world's first LCD panels that sat on top of an overhead projector. And I asked him the fateful question, 'Well, what would you do with that?'"
What you do with that SMART Board technology is change the face of education around the world. Dignitaries like the U.K.'s Tony Blair and Mexico President Vicente Fox turned to the SMART Board and saw, as Knowlton said, "the elevated level of engagement, the happiness that the teachers had, the joy of the students, and just the very active participation." The accolades Knowlton and her husband have received are plentiful—for example, the two shared the Manning Innovation Award in 2002, and Martin was recognized by Prince William himself for his services to education and named an Officer to the Order of the British Empire.
“We had the opportunity to license some technology for what was one of the world's first LCD panels. And I asked him the fateful question, 'Well, what would you do with that?’”
Knowlton is too humble to admit she is a trailblazer, but she has been an inspiration as a leader in the Pro AV industry since SMART Technologies was born. "I would say that there's a tremendous number of really capable women, both who are in place and are emerging," Knowlton said of the industry. " We had more than 50% of our management team as female. And I think when women see women in executive roles—in manager and director roles—they can see themselves in those roles."
You'll be hard pressed to hear Knowlton take much credit for her accomplishments. She credits her honors and accolades to the company's achievements. "I'm just a worker," she said. "I was certainly one of the players, but not the only player."
[SCN Hall of Fame 2024: Sam Taylor]
Knowlton's legacy is unquestioned in the world of Pro AV. A game changer. A leader. And an advocate of change. When Knowlton walks away from Pro AV, how would she like to be remembered? "For transformation in education," she said. "And it really came about as a consequence of listening to and deeply understanding what was taking place in the classroom—and then how we could create products to take it to a new level.”
