Introduction
William A. Cohen, Ph.D., Major General USAF, Retired, was the first graduate of Claremont Graduate School’s Ph.D. program in Executive Management in the 1970s. In that program, Bill experienced first-hand the wisdom and insight of Peter Drucker, sitting in the classroom during Drucker’s legendary seminars. Bill went on to publish over 60 books on business management and leadership, drawing not only on his Drucker education but also his extensive military and professional experience.
Dr. Cohen was the co-founder of the California Institute of Advanced Management (CIAM) and its first president. As such, he was dedicated to supporting a school that would advance the ideas of Peter Drucker to create effective leaders for modern organizations. That training would not just be academic, but, in the spirit of Drucker, a training in “management as a liberal art” – involving practice as well as theory.
After he retired, Bill continued to write monthly newsletters. He wrote until the very last month of his life. CIAM would regularly post these newsletters as part of the research output of the Management as a Liberal Art Research Institute. CIAM President Geofrey Mills suggested that we compile these newsletters into a book. This volume is the result of that suggestion.
I hope you enjoy the collection. Bill and I were working on it up to his passing, so I feel it is an accurate reflection of his wishes. I cannot thank his wife, Nurit, enough for her dedication in reviewing my edits. Many thanks to Len Kwiatkowski, Minglo Shao, and Ron Fogleman for providing tributes.
I leave you with Bill’s signature:
The stuff of heroes. May we all learn some lessons that help us to step up as leaders and be heroes.
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Karen Linkletter
Director, MLARI