Topic: Medieval Monastic and University Spirituality: Management Practices for Ecological Civilization?

Presenters: Ron Nahser

In a world sharply divided by differing views of economic, environmental, and political realities, Dr. Ron Nahser has been living out his own “calling,” influenced by early encounter with Whitehead’s pragmatic philosophy, and continued influence from Benedict’s monastic spirituality, and Boethius’s liberal arts as practiced in Medieval Universities. He frequently finds time to join John Cobb & friends as we aim to live into our calling toward an ecological civilization.

Ron Nahser is the founding Provost – now Emeritus – of Presidio Graduate School, the first to offer an accredited MBA in sustainable management. He’s living out his “calling” in various vocations—as advertising executive, teacher and educational executive, and scholar/practitioner of American Pragmatism He has a China connection as Professor of Ecological Economics and Pragmatic Inquiry at the Center for Confucian Entrepreneurship and East Asian Culture, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.

A recent issue of Amplify (vol. 35, no. 4, 2022) carries an article he co-authored, “Reclaiming Values and Vision in Management Education to Create Systems Change.” The issue’s summary of Nahser’s career documents the range of his professional activities. He is Executive Director for Corporantes, an outgrowth of The Nahser Agency/Advertising. He is Senior Fellow/Director of Urban Sustainable Management Programs, Institute for Nature and Culture at DePaul University’s Department of Environmental Science and Studies. He lectures and consults with business and academic audiences in the US and internationally on business values, vision, marketing strategy, branding, social responsibility, and integrative sustainable management.

Dr. Nahser is the author of Learning to Read the Signs: Reclaiming Pragmatism in Business (available here at a very reasonable price – also includes the 32 page PathFinder Field Notebook) and Journeys to Oxford: Nine Pragmatic Inquiries into the Practice of Values in Business and Education. He has developed a values and vision-driven strategy method known as PathFinder Pragmatic Inquiry®. Dr. Nahser is also a Fellow of the World Business Academy, Curator of the Willis Harman Archive, founding Partner of the Oxford Leadership Academy in the US, and Strategic Advisor to the UN Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) Secretariat.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame, an MBA from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, a master’s degree in religious studies from Loyola/Mundelein College, and a PhD in American business philosophy from DePaul University.

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