R. Wilburn Clouse, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Center
for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Mattie Newman Ford Professor of Entrepreneurship
Professor of Management
Western Kentucky University
My research concentrates on developing organizations for
the future with emphasis
developing the “e spirit”. My work investigates opportunities
not normally seen by others and emphasizes the spirit of creativity and entrepreneurship. I investigate
the intersection of creativity, new technology and the development of new enterprises.
I use just-in-time learning theories and whole-part-whole teaching strategies. My work
in humor, creativity, and entrepreneurship is designed to change both the learning
and work environment and the culture of 21st century organizations. My research
and programs have involved people in at least 47 of the 50 United States, and has
been extended to several foreign countries, including Costa Rica, Venezuela, Tanzania,
Norway, Republic of the Philippines, Japan, United Arab Emirates, Brazil, and Luxembourg.
The book, The Logo Classroom, published by The IBM Corporation, was used in the 1980s
in many of the public schools in the USA and some foreign countries. The book uses
the Logo language to teach creative and innovative thinking. I have continued
my interdisciplinary research with the current work in Entrepreneurs in Action --a web based
program. I am the author of the Burnout Assessment Instrument, which has been used
in numerous research studies related to career burnout and stress in organizations.
My work is internationally known and has been recognized by the Sam Walton Foundation
where I served as a Sam Walton Free Enterprise Fellow and by the Coleman Foundation
where I served as a Coleman Scholar. I have served on the following boards:
National Advisory Council for the Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development
in Albuquerque, New Mexico; and as Regional Entrepreneur Judge for the North American
Collegiate Entrepreneurs Award Program, sponsored by the Sumurfit Center for Entrepreneur Studies; School of Business at St. Louis University, and as a member
of the Board of Directors for the United States Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
I am also editor of the Entrepreneur Executive and I served on the editorial
boards of Psychology: A Journal of Human Behavior and the British- Journal of
the Operational Research Society (Birmingham, England).
Over the years, I have taught a wide range of classes including Organizational
Development, Leadership Theory and Behavior, Systems Theory, Computer
Based
Technology, Research Methods, Organizational Change and I am currently
teaching the following courses: Creativity and Entrepreneurship; Engineering Entrepreneurship Seminar; Humor, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship Education; Marketing
and Leadership; Planning and Management Systems; Management Information Systems; and
Electronic Commerce: Economic, Social and Political Policy Issues.
I use Just-in-Time teaching strategies and the whole-part-whole teaching
concept in all of my classes. My classes are heavily interlaced with case studies and
technology. I have served on more than 150 doctoral dissertation committees and my students
hold important positions in learning environments across the world and as
entrepreneurs. Some of my students have said that “Dr. Clouse has a new idea
every 15 seconds”.
Brief statement about Current Activities
I am currently involved in a series of activities related to the development
and
implementation of the “e spirit” across several universities.
My teaching and research
interests are to develop a curriculum that encourages the development
of the “e” spirit across disciplines and across learning environments for both universities
and public school settings under the auspices of the Entrepreneurship Forum for
Education at Vanderbilt University. I am currently working with 10 different universities
in the development and testing of the ///Entrepreneurs in Action! (EIA) process.
My work has also included 5 different public schools in four different
states. Since my work is web based, many other schools have used the EIA process or cases
to infuse the “e spirit” but have not been reported. My research work
has been and is supported by several different sources including The Coleman Foundation, The National
Science Foundation, Vanderbilt University, and support from several individuals.
I am also very active in several different professional organizations including USASBE,
ASEE, CEO, AREA and other related professional organizations. My total approach
to the “E spirit" learning process is shown on my web site under Learning in Action! (LIA).
(LIA) is a process related to connecting learning with the framework
of the learner. LIA is a holistic approach to the learning process involving the whole-part-whole
teaching strategies that connects the learning to live cases written across several
different disciplines to develop an authentic learning experience. Through an
authentic problem based case experience, the student learns multiple concepts and different
disciplines simultaneously. LIA is developed through problem based learning cases
that are multidisciplinary in nature. The over riding theme is to produce
students who can be creative
and entrepreneurial thinkers in the 21st century. Our world is filled
with uncertainty in our social, economic and political systems. Certainty and stability
are no longer a given. In recent years, political systems have failed, terrorist activities
have increased to be world wide, world energy systems are changing, world markets are changing,
products and process development systems are being modified and natural disasters
have occurred with worldwide impact. The world is unstable and uncertain. But yet,
most of our formal educational systems teach students how to work and live in a stable
and structured organizational world. Most curricular teaches structure, order, linear
thinking and certainty, while the world is filled with chaos, ambiguity and uncertainty.
My work deals with the establishment of authentic cases to teach student to learn
from chaos, ambiguity, uncertainty and entrepreneurship. LIA is thus composed of the following
features: 1. Ideas in Action, 2. Humor in Action, 3. Creativity in Action and 4.
Entrepreneurs in Action. The process is designed to encourage the development of the
“e” spirit as away of living your life—seeing new and different opportunities and moving
to create a business venture. The most developed and used part of LIA is the EIA described
below.
Entrepreneurs in Action! (EIA) is a curriculum designed to teach entrepreneurship,
creativity and innovation by using online cases. The curriculum is a
vehicle for creating learning environments that foster entrepreneurial activities and develop
a mindset for thinking outside of structured settings. The curriculum takes the position
that every person has the potential to think creatively and entrepreneurially.
Project Goals
The Entrepreneurs in Action! program is designed to
accomplish the following:
• Encourage the development of a cross-disciplinary learning environment
• Connect learning with the framework of the learner
• Provide for just-in-time learning
• Utilize whole-part-whole teaching strategies
• Connect learning with local communities
• Use live cases
• Require the use of a variety of resources
• Provide online experts from the local community for content analysis
Featured Cases
• Blackout in America! – Electrical Energy
• A Question of Power – Oil Shortage
• Chasing the Dragon – Illegal Drugs
• Not in My Backyard! – Recycling
• Music City Blues – Music Business
• Talking to the Air – Wireless Technology
• The Santa Fe Effect – City Planning
• The Phoenix – Creating a Cyber Café
• Long Lines and Hot Tempers—Homeland Security
• Fashion, Fashion Everywhere and Nothing to Wear—International
Fashion
• Medical Practice Management--University Nursing Program
The Entrepreneurs in Action Program (A cross discipline approach to
teaching and
learning entrepreneurship) has been developed and tested in the following
schools:
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN; Francis Marion University, Florence,
SC;
Anderson University, Anderson, SC; Western Kentucky University, Bowling
Green, KY; Murray State University, Murray, KY; Tennessee Technological University,
Cookeville, TN; Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN; Tennessee Wesleyan College, Athens, TN, Rochester Institute of Technological Rochester,
NY; Berry University, Miami FL; Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX and
Appalachian State University, Boone, NC which will joint the program this fall.
Public schools involved are as follows: Sumner County Public Schools,
Hendersonville, Tennessee; Elmer Avenue Elementary School, Schenectady, New York; Fontainebleau High School, Mandeville, Louisiana; Mt. Juliet Middle School, Mt. Juliet,
Tennessee; Manzano Vista Middle School, Los Lunas, New Mexico; Mitchell-Neilson
Elementary School, Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
The entire LIA and EIA programs and process can be viewed at
http://entrepreneurship.vanderbilt.edu.
The work has been supported by funds from The Coleman Foundation, NSF, Vanderbilt University and several private sources.
Academic Background
David Lipscomb University, Nashville, Tennessee
1959, B.A., Chemistry
University of Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee
1960–63 (part-time), Economics, Management
Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee
1968, M.A., Economics (Social Sciences)
George Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
1977, Ph.D., Educational Administration (Organizational Development)
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Bush Public Policy Institute1981
Post-Doctoral Experience (sabbatical leave)
Selected Accomplishment
Commissioned by the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship
to write a series of articles for the Community College Entrepreneur Journal.
Founder and developer of the Center for Entrepreneurship Education at
Vanderbilt under a Coleman grant and later renamed the center to be the Entrepreneurship
Forum for Education at Vanderbilt University (A dialogue for innovation, creativity
and entrepreneurship education).
Developed the first entrepreneurship undergraduate course at Peabody
College of
Education and Human Development in the Department of Human Development
at
Vanderbilt University.
Developed the first graduate course in entrepreneurship, humor and creativity
course at Peabody College of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University
in the department of Leadership, Policy and Organizations.
Developed the first freshman engineering entrepreneurship course for
engineering
students at Vanderbilt College of Engineering.
Developed 5 regional Entrepreneurship Think Tank Institutes in the last
7 years. The
latest was held on August 7-8, 2006 and attracted more than 40 participants
for the
southeast and from the United Arabic Emirates. Other Think Tank Institutes
have
attracted more than 400 participants.
Developed 30 on campus Entrepreneurship Forums.
Received 3 Coleman Foundation Grants for infusing the “e”
spirit into multiple
disciplines and multiple Universities.
Received 2 NSF Grants for infusing the “e” spirit into multiply
universities
Served as the Associate Director of the Corporate Learning Institute
at Vanderbilt
University ---All operational funds were developed as independent contractors.
Developed The Logo Classroom program as an independent contractor with
IBM-- This curriculum program was used in public school systems in approximately
48 states during the 1980’s. The program taught multiple concepts as well independent
thinking and creativity—“e” spirit building”.
Developed with three other faculty members Peabody’s off campus
graduate program in the late 1970s and 1980’s that had sites operating in Chicago,
IL; Manchester, NH; Fairfax, VA; New Orleans, LA; Bangor, MA;-- At the time this was a very innovative approach where the faculty that taught on campus also taught off campus
thus providing the same approach on as well as off campus. Students were required to
be on campus for two summers.
Served as the First Assistant Director for the John F. Kennedy Center
for Research on Human Development at Peabody College of Education and Human Development.
Helped secure more than $36 million for research from contracts and grants
from NICHD, NIMH, Foundations, State and Local contracts. (This center was one of
the 12 national centers on research in Human Development.—Other centers were at
Universities like UCLA and UNC at Chapel Hill, NC
My influence in this network brought about major innovations in computer
technology and management systems for University-government supported research
efforts.
Developed the Peabody College Computer based alumni system.
Directed and secured grant funds to support the first Computer Center
at Peabody
College.
Was a major player in the development on-line library systems at Vanderbilt
University.
A founding faculty member of Columbia State Community College (CSCC)
---
Tennessee’s first State supported Community College.
Developed the first Computer Science Technology Program in Tennessee
at CSCC.
Developed several new products at the DuPont Company.
Developed an international training program while employed by the DuPont
Company.
Honors received
Peabody Round Table Honoree, 2005
Outstanding Educator Award for Innovative and Creative Teaching, The
Academy of
Educational Leadership, 2005
Peabody Round Table Honoree, 2004
USASBE Outstanding Workshop Award, 2003
Coleman Senior Scholar, 2002
Research Award, Academy of Entrepreneurship Education, 2002
Research Award, Academy of Entrepreneurship Education, 2001
Nominated for the Vanderbilt Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award, 2000
Peabody Round Table Honoree, 1999
Coleman Scholar, 1998.
Sam Walton Free Enterprise Fellow, 1997.
Peabody Round Table Honoree, 1992.
Peabody Round Table Honoree, 1988.
Peabody Outstanding Faculty Award, May 1983.
Kentucky Colonel
Flying Colonel—Delta Airlines
Business Ventures
(Not only do I teach and influence others with the “e” spirit,
but also I practice the “e” spirit.)
Founder and President, Clouse and Associates (1975), a sole proprietorship.
Founder and President, Matrix Systems, Inc (1981). Severed as independent contractor to IBM for 13 years. Purchase my first IPO at age 14. Developed an Executive Program for the President of UCAR Inc. Served as an independent contractor to at least 50 different Public
School Systems. Served as an independent contractor to the US Department of Defense. Developed an Educational Training program for the Tennessee Academy
for School Leaders, Tennessee Department of Education as an independent contractor—Now
in its 7th year. Developed a marketing training program for IBM as an independent contractor—it became the longest running marketing program ever developed at IBM----ran
for more that 5 years and influenced 1000’s of IBMers. Developed an International Training program for the DuPont Company
Impact
Presented more than 500 presentations in multiple disciplinary organizations
in at least 48 of the 50 states and in at least 10 foreign countries -- all presentations
were about my work that includes systems thinking, creativity and entrepreneurship.
It is estimated this audience would be approximate 50 to 60 thousand people.
Taught more than 15 different types of courses at 5 different Universities.
It is estimated that I have influenced more than 8,000 students directly in my classes
and as a speaker. Served as chair for more than 125 doctoral graduate students all who
now serve in important roles across this county and several foreign countries. Several
former students own and operator their own businesses and or influence others. Literally
thousands of people have been influenced by this group of students … many
have picked up my “e" spirit and spread it across the world.
Has published more that 60 research articles and monograms.
Has developed more than 20 entrepreneurship cases.
Has presented more than 500 presentations at regional, national and
international research conferences.