Executive Education in Canadian Firms

About the Book

A doctoral dissertation about Executive Education involving case study research, and comprising data from interviews with executives in Canada; information about nine universities in Canada, the USA and Europe; and the author's own experience of executive learning. This data and the resulting conclusions and recommendations that flow from them will be of useful interest to practising executives, consultants and business schools providing executive education. "Bruce Fowler's dissertation tackles an important topic, the further education of executives in important Canadian companies, with a view to understanding better what actually goes on in programs designed to make executives better at what they do, keep them up to date, and encourage their imagination on the job. In this he succeeds admirably. His use of Alfred North Whitehead's educational philosophy as a background theoretical vantage point for his work is unusual and very wisely chosen. It enables him to organize his thoughts around a simple, clear and plausible view of the aims and dynamic structure of education at its best" (Dr. Ian Winchester, University of Calgary). "This dissertation's originality and contribution to the discipline lie in the adoption of Whitehead's philosophical framework as a lense through which to reach a synthesis about executive education, which when combined with the author's own business experience give the reader a unique perspective on the issues involved (Dr. H. Woodhouse, University of Saskatchewan). "This research has the potential to make a valuable contribution to the field of executive and business education" (Dr. N. Dudley, University of Calgary).

About the Author

Bruce Fowler's professional career spanned 31 years in the pulp and paper industry, including the last 12 of those years as Vice President (Sales and Marketing) of a fine paper company that produced coated and uncoated printing papers for the North American market. After taking early retirement in 2002, Bruce went back to school, completing a Master of Arts in Leadership and Training at Royal Roads University, and graduating in 2005 with the Chancellor's award for highest academic achievement in his class. He then embarked on a Doctoral Program in Higher Education Leadership through the University of Calgary, completing all the requirements for that degree (course work, written and oral candidancy, field research, written dissertation and its defence) in December 2009. Bruce decided to publish his dissertation, "Executive Education in Canadian Firms", in order to share his reserach findings with those he interviewed, the institutions he featured in the data, and more widely with all other interested executives and scholars. Dr. Fowler lives in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. Beyond his interest in executive learning, his passion is horseback riding, and his specialty is dressage. Bruce spent two years in the mid 1960s at the French Cavalry School of Saumur where he received instruction during that period from various officers of the famed Cadre Noir, earning the full instructor designation from the Fédération Française des Sports Equestres. His other interests are opera and poetry, visiting children and grandchildren in Ottawa, Montreal, Williams Lake and Port Moody.