Academia is a second career for me. I left corporate American in 2000 to become a college professor and will tell anyone willing to listen that teaching is the best second career I could imagine. Not sure I could have done it for my whole working life, but I love spending my 50s and 60s working with college students, helping them to see that it's possible to do well and do good in business, and that they can help make the world a better place by working for firms that work to serve all their stakeholders - customers, employees, suppliers, communities, and the natural environment - as well as investors.
What I didn't expect was how much I would enjoy the research and scholarship part of the job. Reading, research, writing papers, and attending international conferences all help satisfy my need to experience and learn from new people and places. I spent my first sabbatical in 2007/08 teaching at the Cracow University of Economics in Poland on a Fulbright Grant and it was a wonderful experience. I was able to return for two years afterwards to teach a weekend executive MBA course I had developed while there and continued to do research and write papers with one of the professors I met while there. Though I had applied for another Fulbright grant for this sabbatical, the Fulbright office in Washington, DC lost my letter of invitation from Waikato University (in Hamilton, New Zealand) and my application did not receive the committee's consideration when they met in November. Rather disappointing for all the work that went into the application, but I knew it was a long-shot anyway. And as things turn out, it's a good thing I won't be in New Zealand from February to May 2015 since Alison and Scott are expecting a baby in May!
Not getting the Fulbright required a new plan for my sabbatical. So this blog will attempt to document how I spend my time, what I learn, and the new countries I experience. Hopefully it will convey how very fortunate I feel to have such a wonderful job.
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