Cool Dad Job: Bionic Man

Latest Cool Dad Achievement: Promising to “eradicate human limitation and disability,” meaning it.

The head of the biomechatronics group at MIT Media Lab, which is not a secret evil organization in a Michael Bay movie, Herr’s job is to figure out how technology can augment biology. In that capacity, he has published more than 150 peer-reviewed papers and patents while becoming the face of the movement to make bionics part of everyday life and, in so doing, give people with disabilities the freedom they deserve. A double-amputee himself — he lost his legs to frostbite on a mountain in New Hampshire when he was 17 — Herr puts his body where his mouth is. He’s currently training to run the 2020 Boston Marathon. He’s also introducing his daughters, whom he calls “little Amazons,” to the joys of hiking.