Bob Weis is currently the Global Leader for Entertainment and Immersive Experience Design for Gensler, a global design and architecture firm. Bob brings his deep expertise in pioneering large-scale, groundbreaking experiences and immersive entertainment to Gensler’s world-class global clients. Bob leads and collaborates with talented teams around the world to create one-of-a-kind experiences for clients across a variety of spaces, including entertainment, lifestyle, hospitality, retail, sports, mixed-use, cultural institutions, and workplace environments.
Before his arrival at Gensler, Bob was Global Ambassador at Walt Disney Imagineering, following in the footsteps of his mentor Disney legend, Marty Sklar. As Global Ambassador, Bob was dedicated to mentoring the next generation of Imagineers and fostering the incredible legacy of Walt Disney Imagineering. Prior to that role, Bob was President of Imagineering and then took on the additional role of Creative and New Experience Development. Bob led a multidisciplinary team tasked with developing and bringing to market cutting-edge ideas that enhanced and expanded Disney’s global portfolio of products and experiences. He also provided creative visioning for Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI), the creative engine behind experiences found in Disney theme parks, resorts, hotels and cruise ships.
As the creative and design lead for some of Disney’s largest and most successful parks, Bob has decades of experience leading projects around the world. Before becoming president of Imagineering, Bob was the overall creative executive for Shanghai Disney Resort. Prior to that, Bob completed a five-year transformation and expansion of Disney California Adventure Park. His previous projects include creative leadership for the original Disney’s Hollywood Studios, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror attraction, conceptual design for Tokyo DisneySea, and work on the first international Disney theme park, Tokyo Disneyland.
Bob has been honored with multiple awards from the Themed Entertainment Association, along with awards for the development of Shanghai Disney Resort, including the China Construction Engineering Luban Prize, and The American Institute of Architects Technology in Architectural Practice Award for the successful implementation of Building Information Modeling (BIM). In addition, Bob serves on the Walt Disney Family Museum’s Advisory Committee, and the Board of Trustees for the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), a diverse and multifaceted cultural and educational component of the Smithsonian Institution.
Bob’s additional creative experiences include collaboration with the Smithsonian and other museum projects, and his feature film and documentary projects that have been shown on Lifetime and American Public Television.
Bob joined the Walt Disney Imagineering team in 1980, upon receiving his BS in Architecture from California Polytechnic University, Pomona.
