McCleery leads conference panel on “Making Basic Services Reach the Poor”

Robert McCleery was a featured speaker at the Second Conference on Integrated Social Policies in Egypt, July 4-5, 2009 in Cairo. The conference was organized by the Egyptian Ministry of Social Solidarity, and was attended by that Minister (H.E. Aly Moselhy), the Minister of Housing, National Democratic Party rising star Gamal Mobarak, representatives of other parties and ministries, representatives of domestic and international NGOs, and other foreign experts. Prof. McCleery headed the second session: Making Basic Services Reach the Poor. He presented a refined and targeted version of the “Development as Connectivity” story, first presented with Prof. De Paolis at the Faculty Research brown bag series, organized by Prof. Kardam, last spring. The presentation also drew on their joint research, presented in a consulting report to the United Nations Development Program, New York, titled: Making Infrastructure Work for the Poor.

MIIS Shines at Globalization Conference

logoErnie Scalberg, Jeff Woods and Carol Johnson represented MIIS at a recent conference on Globalization at UC Berkeley, sponsored by LISA (the Localization Industry Standards Association).  Scalberg’s session, “The Opportunities and Challenges of Integrating Global Business Strategy Development and Multilingual Online Marketing Communication” was the second highest rated plenary session.

MIIS was the “rock star” of the conference.  Companies and other schools were quite impressed with our “Globalization/localization” programs and the quality of our students.  Jeff and Carol staffed the MIIS table, where they met with many new companies and agencies promising to recruit our students. There were attendees who expressed interest in applying for admission to various of our programs.

Jeff Langholz Reports on Sustainable Development Projects

Professor Jeff Langholz did several summer projects that combined business with policy in the form of sustainable enterprise development.

In June, he traveled to London to advise the CEO of sports apparel giant PUMA Inc. on a major “green business” initiative to be launched in October.  June also saw him writing an analytical report for the World Wildlife Fund that made recommendations on using sustainable enterprises to improve and expand the organization’s efforts. He involved recent IEP alumna and Fulbright Scholar (Brazil) Heather Zissler in this consultancy because of her in-depth knowledge of the subject.

Much of the summer was devoted to researching and writing a 120-page report on sustainable agriculture. Funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts and The Nature Conservancy, the report examines the extent to which growers of spinach, lettuce, and other leafy greens in seven Central Coast counties have implemented a “scorched earth” policy on farms in an attempt to reduce food safety risks.

worldwatchLast, the WorldWatch Institute – which produces the annual State of the World reports — has published an article by Dr. Langholz in the current (Sept/Oct) issue of its award-winning WorldWatch Magazine. The provocative piece challenges the international conservation community to double the amount of biodiversity protected globally by investing in nature-based ventures.  Please click here for a copy of the article.

Joshi Attends Summer Workshop on Security Studies

Sharad Joshi, PhD, Research Associate with the Monterey Terrorism Research and Education Program (MonTREP) and Visiting Professor, Graduate School of International Policy & Management, attended the 13th annual three-week Summer Workshop on the Analysis of Military Operations and Strategies (SWAMOS), held at Cornell University in July. The program is for junior scholars in the field of security studies.

Akaha Reports on Scholarly Activities This Summer

Professor Tsuneo Akaha’s “From Soft Power to Hard Power: Japan’s Evolving Security Policy” has been published in the Japanese book Japanese Foreign Policy In The Eyes of Japanese Researchers Abroad (Tokyo: Fujiwara Shoten).

He gave a talk on “Human Security in East Asia” at the Summer Institute, Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University, August 3-7, a training program for PhD students from around the world who are interested in Asian regional integration.

He also taught an intensive American Studies course “U.S. Policy in Northeast Asia” at the University of Shimane, Japan, July 25-28.

The most memorable experience of Professor Akaha’s this summer was attending the August 6 A-bomb memorial ceremony in Hiroshima, where virtually every speaker referred favorably to President Obama’s Prague speech on a nuclear-free world.

NOTE: We’d love to share the contributions of other faculty!  If you have achievements you would like to share, please send them to Amy McGill for posting on the blog.

J.D. Yuan Reports on Summer Activities

From Singapore comes this report of Prof. J.D. Yuan’s recent publications and interviews:

*  July 8, TV interview from Channel News Asia, on the Xinjiang riots.
*  July 29, Washington Observer interview on the first round of US-China
Strategic and Economic Dialogue
*  July 31, “China and the US: G-2 by Another Name?” Asia Times,
*  August 5, Bloomberg TV, live interview on Asia Business News on
Clinton’s North Korea trip.
*  August 8, “After the Clinton Trip: A Window of Opportunity?
OpinionAsia

Akaha to speak at Peace Forum

This week, Prof. Tsuneo Akaha will be a panelist in a forum on peace.

The Jeju Peace Institute, headed by Amb. HAN Tae Kyu, is pleased to
announce live webcasts of the 5th Jeju Peace Forum to be held at Havich
Hotel & Resort, August 11th, Tuesday – 13th, Thursday, 2009.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will be among the year’s
participants, along with over one hundred leading figures in business,
politics, and academia from home and abroad. For more information about
the forum and its participants, please open the attached program.

International Environmental Leaders Address Forest Conservation At MIIS

When: Saturday, April 25, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm (reception following)

Where: Irvine Auditorium

Guest speakers including Dr. Dick Rice, chief economist of Conservation International; Chris LaFranchi, founder of Natural Equity; Stephan Schwartzman, the Director of the Tropical Forest Policy Program at Environmental Defense Fund; and Keegan Eisenstadt, CEO of ClearSky Climate Solutions LLC will participate in a series of panel discussions focused on the central role of forest conservation in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Other conference themes will include biodiversity conservation, indigenous rights, carbon markets and climate change.

MBA Program Chair Announced

Dean-designate Yuwei Shi announced today that Dr. Bruce Paton will be the Chair of the Fisher Program in International Business (Fisher International MBA). The decision has been made after deliberation and consultation with President Sunder Ramaswamy, Provost Amy Sands, the Fisher Faculty and Staff, and the incoming Program Chairs of the Graduate School of International Policy and Management.

Dr. Paton is Visiting Associate Professor of Sustainable Business and Strategy at the Monterey Institute. He is Associate Professor at San Francisco State University’s College of Business, where he teaches courses on corporate social responsibility and sustainable business at undergraduate, graduate, and executive levels. He was named the Teaching Professor of the Year for the College of Business in 2005. He has also been an Adjunct Professor at Monterey Institute since 2002. Dr. Paton has been actively involved in curriculum reform at SF State. He served on a Dean’s Taskforce on Graduate Programs that led to streamlined MBA program requirements. He also chaired the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee during its preparation for the AACSB’s re-accreditation process. Dr. Paton currently serves as Board Chair for Sustainable Silicon Valley, a collaboration of nearly 100 businesses, cities, and community organizations that works to focus the region’s leaders on its most important environmental challenges and opportunities. He also serves on the International Planning Board for the Greening of Industry Network, and on the editorial board for the Journal, Business Strategy and Environment.

Dr. Paton focuses his research on business strategies and public policies for sustainability, especially the development of methods for designing and evaluating voluntary and collaborative initiatives to address social and environmental issues in management. His research and teaching draw on more than twenty years of decision-making experience in industry, government and higher education, including the District of Columbia government, an environmental policy consulting firm, Hewlett-Packard, and a Silicon Valley startup. He also served for two years as Director of Admissions for the MBA Program at Stanford University. Dr. Paton holds a BA in Environmental Science from Wesleyan University, an MBA from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz.