Over the course of his more than 30 year career, Dr. D’Wayne Edwards has received numerous design awards, been voted one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business, accumulated and owned more than 40 patents, and designed more than 500 styles for premier athletes including Derek Jeter, Carmelo Anthony, and Michael Jordan. In 2010 Dr. Edwards founded PENSOLE, the first academy in the United States dedicated to footwear design. PENSOLE has quickly become the preeminent footwear design school in the world by securing partnerships with the industry’s top footwear brands and retailers and has placed more than 500 PENSOLE alums in positions working for some of today’s top brands including Nike, Under Armour, Adidas, New Balance, Brooks, Keen, Timberland, JORDAN, and others globally. In 2022 he founded Pensole Lewis College of Business & Design, reopening Michigan’s only HBCU which was the first re-establishment of an HBCU in American history.