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OVERVIEW
Much of my life has been spent with one foot in the world of writing and one foot in the world of business. I have written or co-written 35 books for major publishers, been an executive at three large corporations, and a partner in seven real estate projects. I've been an on-screen expert for 60 Minutes, Good Morning America, and other national programs. I was the third person in the US to join Mensa; was a contestant on Jeopardy; and was the only person to serve as a consultant to the Grateful Dead and the FBI (although not at the same time). I live in Oregon with my wife of more than 55 years, Marina. |
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EDUCATION
Reed College, physics, then psychology major, 1955-1958
B.A., Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, 1959
M.J., Journalism, University of California, Berkeley, 1960 [Grade point average: 4.0]
Ph.D., Communication, Michigan State University, 1966 [Grade point average: 4.0]
Currently: WRITER OF BOOKS and articles
Author or co-author of 35 books with major publishers (Random House, Time-Life, McGraw-Hill, Career Press, Harcourt Brace, Grosset & Dunlap, Ten Speed Press, Prometheus, Price/Stern/Sloan) on higher education, computers, travel, U.S. history, cooking, publishing, and consumerism. Four titles have appeared on various bestseller lists. Complete list of books here. Co-author of article, with Paul Ekman, in Psychology Today.
Currently: EDUCATIONAL CONSULTANT and EXPERT WITNESS
Because of my books on distance education (there are many legitimate online degree programs and even more fake ones), I was invited by the FBI to be the main consultant to their DipScam diploma mill task force. I provided information, advice, and expert witness testimony for ten years. When DipScam was discontinued in 1990, I continued doing the same kind of work for private clients: individuals, companies, and government agencies.
Currently: REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT AND MANAGEMENT
Marina and I own 20% of a condo apartment building in Berkeley, have been two of the three partners in five home buying-rehabbing-selling projects in recent years, and are 5% owners of a large office building in Kentucky.
On hold: DANCE TEACHER
Marina and I started a circle dance group which has danced regularly for more than 30 years. We have put on dance workshops in five U.S. states and three Canadian provinces, as well as an annual six-day dance camp in northern California for more than 25 years. Dance website at www.circledancing.com.
BUSINESS CAREER
In the business world I was, most recently, Head of New Business Development for the Financial Times division of Pearson PLC, one of the world's largest publishers (The Economist, Penguin, Putnam, Prentice Hall, Addison Wesley Longmans, Scott Foresman, Financial Times, etc.).
In 1998, Pearson purchased the company my wife and I founded and ran for seven years, International Business Education, Inc., which did marketing in North America for two large British universities, the University of Leicester and the Edinburgh Business School of Heriot-Watt University (which, because of a splendid on-line program and skillful marketing, became the largest MBA program of any kind in the United States and Canada).
In earlier times, I was
My consulting clients have included
PUBLIC APPEARANCES and TALKS: a great many, including these:
PERSONAL
CLICK HERE FOR LIST OF BOOKS AND ARTICLES
Reed College, physics, then psychology major, 1955-1958
B.A., Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, 1959
M.J., Journalism, University of California, Berkeley, 1960 [Grade point average: 4.0]
Ph.D., Communication, Michigan State University, 1966 [Grade point average: 4.0]
Currently: WRITER OF BOOKS and articles
Author or co-author of 35 books with major publishers (Random House, Time-Life, McGraw-Hill, Career Press, Harcourt Brace, Grosset & Dunlap, Ten Speed Press, Prometheus, Price/Stern/Sloan) on higher education, computers, travel, U.S. history, cooking, publishing, and consumerism. Four titles have appeared on various bestseller lists. Complete list of books here. Co-author of article, with Paul Ekman, in Psychology Today.
Currently: EDUCATIONAL CONSULTANT and EXPERT WITNESS
Because of my books on distance education (there are many legitimate online degree programs and even more fake ones), I was invited by the FBI to be the main consultant to their DipScam diploma mill task force. I provided information, advice, and expert witness testimony for ten years. When DipScam was discontinued in 1990, I continued doing the same kind of work for private clients: individuals, companies, and government agencies.
Currently: REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT AND MANAGEMENT
Marina and I own 20% of a condo apartment building in Berkeley, have been two of the three partners in five home buying-rehabbing-selling projects in recent years, and are 5% owners of a large office building in Kentucky.
On hold: DANCE TEACHER
Marina and I started a circle dance group which has danced regularly for more than 30 years. We have put on dance workshops in five U.S. states and three Canadian provinces, as well as an annual six-day dance camp in northern California for more than 25 years. Dance website at www.circledancing.com.
BUSINESS CAREER
In the business world I was, most recently, Head of New Business Development for the Financial Times division of Pearson PLC, one of the world's largest publishers (The Economist, Penguin, Putnam, Prentice Hall, Addison Wesley Longmans, Scott Foresman, Financial Times, etc.).
In 1998, Pearson purchased the company my wife and I founded and ran for seven years, International Business Education, Inc., which did marketing in North America for two large British universities, the University of Leicester and the Edinburgh Business School of Heriot-Watt University (which, because of a splendid on-line program and skillful marketing, became the largest MBA program of any kind in the United States and Canada).
In earlier times, I was
- Director of the Center for the Gifted Child in San Francisco
- Research Director for the Bell & Howell Company's educational division in Chicago
- Head of Advertising and Corporate Communications for the Midas Muffler Company (Midas-International) in Chicago
- Associate Professor (with tenure) in the University of Iowa School of Journalism, and head of the Senior Honors Program.
- Co-owner, with Marina, of the Flying Bear Candy Company (wholesale, retail, and mail order) : manufacturing in Ft. Bragg, retail in Ft. Bragg and Mendocino.
My consulting clients have included
- the F.B.I. (degrees and credentials)
- the Grateful Dead (marketing and financial planning),
- General Motors (child safety programs),
- Xerox Corporation (product development),
- Encyclopaedia Britannica (product development).
- The U.S. Office of Personnel Management
- The Chronicle of Higher Education
- I have also consulted with more than 2,000 individuals and a dozen universities (including three unaccredited start-up ventures), on matters related to earning or marketing degrees.
PUBLIC APPEARANCES and TALKS: a great many, including these:
- Good Morning America expert on degree mills, four times
- 60 Minutes II, degree mill segment
- Today (author interview with Jane Pauley and Bryant Gumbel)
- Inside Edition (degree expert, twice)
- Late Night with David Letterman (guest; cooking demonstration to promote our book, How to Repair Food)
- NPR interviews: Fresh Air with Terry Gross and Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me
- Dozens of daytime women’s and cooking programs, for cooking demonstrations
- Keynote speaker to 2,000 senior military personnel, Department of Defense every-three-years educational conference, 2006
- Keynote speaker, on computers, to 4,000 attendees, American Dental Association convention
- Keynote speaker, national conventions of two major national home-schooling organizations, one evangelical Christian, one new age/pagan
- Keynote speaker, National Association for Experiential Learning, at Princeton University
- Featured speaker at three national conventions of DETC, the Distance Education and Training Council.
- Speaker at five national conventions of AACRAO, the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.
- Co-offered (with an FBI expert) workshops on degrees and credentials for the Office of Personnel Management in Washington and in Pittsburgh.
PERSONAL
- Married to Marina Bear since 1963
- Daughters Susannah (nurse), her twin Tanya (office manager), and Mariah (executive editor for a large publisher). Five grandchildren.
CLICK HERE FOR LIST OF BOOKS AND ARTICLES
