Wenger, Daniel L.

After college, Daniel Wenger worked as a computer programmer with the US Space Program from its inception in 1957. He returned to school in 1963 to obtain a PhD in theoretical physics, followed by a period as a professor of physics. During this time, continuing his life-long enjoyment of working with his hands, he developed his skill with leather and steel. Inspired by a chair from his childhood home in Brentwood, California, he directed his design aesthetic to make a chair using leather and steel. He created his Lotus chair in 1969 while living in Topanga Canyon, California. The success of the Lotus chair, his first furniture piece, brought about a major change in his life. He decided to leave the academic world and to immerse himself in design and fabrication.