Marty Vanderploeg

Biography

Martin (Marty) J. Vanderploeg, Ph.D., is the chief executive officer of Workiva Inc., a $440 million cloud-based software technology company with an open, intelligent, and intuitive platform that simplifies complex work for global organizations. Marty co-founded Workiva to transform the way people manage and report business data.

As CEO, Marty is focused on developing the company’s vision and award-winning culture, which nurtures an innovative workplace enabling customers to confidently move their businesses forward. He has over 30 years of experience in scaling software companies from start-ups to private and public global enterprises. 

Marty is known for his leadership in the technology sector, including developing computer assisted design software used in medical and forensic applications and as a technology entrepreneur. Prior to serving as CEO, Vanderploeg served as president and chief operating officer of Workiva and its predecessor (Webfilings).

Previously, Marty co-founded Engineering Animations Inc. (EAI) and served as the company’s chief technology officer. As CTO, he led EAI’s’ development of computer graphics tools used in crime scene reconstruction, 3D animations of human anatomy, CAD applications in automotive design and computer games as well as other applications. EAI was acquired in 2000 by Unigraphics Solutions (now part of Siemens USA).

Marty was a tenured professor of mechanical engineering at Iowa State University and has authored 19 publications in the area of design optimization and vehicle dynamics, mechanical engineering software applications, biomechanics and graphic animation.  He was the founder and director of the Iowa State University Visualization Laboratory. Marty has a Bachelor of Science, Master of Science and a Doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan State University.