My research concentrates on developing organizations for the future with emphasis
developing the “e spirit”. My work investigates opportunities not normally seen by
others and emphasizes the spirit of creativity and entrepreneurship. I investigate
the intersection of creativity, new technology and the development of new enterprises.
I use just-in-time learning theories and whole-part-whole teaching strategies. My
work in humor, creativity, and entrepreneurship is designed to change both the learning
and work environment and the culture of 21st century organizations. My research and
programs have involved people in at least 47 of the 50 United States, and has been
extended to several foreign countries, including Costa Rica, Venezuela, Tanzania,
Norway, Republic of the Philippines, Japan, United Arab Emirates, Brazil, and Luxembourg.
The book, The Logo Classroom, published by The IBM Corporation, was used in the 1980s
in many of the public schools in the USA and some foreign countries. The book uses
the Logo language to teach creative and innovative thinking. I have continued my interdisciplinary
research with the current work in Entrepreneurs in Action --a web based program. I
am the author of the Burnout Assessment Instrument, which has been used in numerous
research studies related to career burnout and stress in organizations. My work is
internationally known and has been recognized by the Sam Walton Foundation where I
served as a Sam Walton Free Enterprise Fellow and by the Coleman Foundation where
I served as a Coleman Scholar. I have served on the following boards: National Advisory
Council for the Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development in Albuquerque,
New Mexico; and as Regional Entrepreneur Judge for the North American Collegiate Entrepreneurs
Award Program, sponsored by the Sumurfit Center for Entrepreneur Studies; School of
Business at St. Louis University, and as a member of the Board of Directors for the
United States Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship. I am also editor
of the Entrepreneur Executive and I served on the editorial boards of Psychology:
A Journal of Human Behavior and the British- Journal of the Operational Research Society
(Birmingham, England).
Over the years, I have taught a wide range of classes including Organizational
Development, Leadership Theory and Behavior, Systems Theory, Computer Based
Technology, Research Methods, Organizational Change and I am currently teaching the
following courses: Creativity and Entrepreneurship; Engineering Entrepreneurship Seminar;
Humor, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship Education; Marketing and Leadership; Planning
and Management Systems; Management Information Systems; and Electronic Commerce: Economic,
Social and Political Policy Issues.
I use Just-in-Time teaching strategies and the whole-part-whole teaching concept
in all of my classes. My classes are heavily interlaced with case studies and technology.
I have served on more than 150 doctoral dissertation committees and my students hold
important positions in learning environments across the world and as entrepreneurs.
Some of my students have said that “Dr. Clouse has a new idea every 15 seconds”.
Brief statement about Current Activities
I am currently involved in a series of activities related to the development and
implementation of the “e spirit” across several universities. My teaching and research
interests are to develop a curriculum that encourages the development of the “e” spirit
across disciplines and across learning environments for both universities and public
school settings under the auspices of the Entrepreneurship Forum for Education at
Vanderbilt University. I am currently working with 10 different universities in the
development and testing of the ///Entrepreneurs in Action! (EIA) process.
My work has also included 5 different public schools in four different states. Since
my work is web based, many other schools have used the EIA process or cases to infuse
the “e spirit” but have not been reported. My research work has been and is supported
by several different sources including The Coleman Foundation, The National Science
Foundation, Vanderbilt University, and support from several individuals. I am also
very active in several different professional organizations including USASBE, ASEE,
CEO, AREA and other related professional organizations. My total approach to the “E
spirit" learning process is shown on my web site under Learning in Action! (LIA).
(LIA) is a process related to connecting learning with the framework of the learner.
LIA is a holistic approach to the learning process involving the whole-part-whole
teaching strategies that connects the learning to live cases written across several
different disciplines to develop an authentic learning experience. Through an authentic
problem based case experience, the student learns multiple concepts and different
disciplines simultaneously. LIA is developed through problem based learning cases
that are multidisciplinary in nature. The over riding theme is to produce students
who can be creative and entrepreneurial thinkers in the 21st century. Our world is
filled with uncertainty in our social, economic and political systems. Certainty and
stability are no longer a given. In recent years, political systems have failed, terrorist
activities have increased to be world wide, world energy systems are changing, world
markets are changing, products and process development systems are being modified
and natural disasters have occurred with worldwide impact. The world is unstable and
uncertain. But yet, most of our formal educational systems teach students how to work
and live in a stable and structured organizational world. Most curricular teaches
structure, order, linear thinking and certainty, while the world is filled with chaos,
ambiguity and uncertainty. My work deals with the establishment of authentic cases
to teach student to learn from chaos, ambiguity, uncertainty and entrepreneurship.
LIA is thus composed of the following features: 1. Ideas in Action, 2. Humor in Action,
3. Creativity in Action and 4. Entrepreneurs in Action. The process is designed to
encourage the development of the “e” spirit as away of living your life—seeing new
and different opportunities and moving to create a business venture. The most developed
and used part of LIA is the EIA described below.
Entrepreneurs in Action! (EIA) is a curriculum designed to teach entrepreneurship,
creativity and innovation by using online cases. The curriculum is a vehicle for creating
learning environments that foster entrepreneurial activities and develop a mindset
for thinking outside of structured settings. The curriculum takes the position that
every person has the potential to think creatively and entrepreneurially.
Project Goals
The Entrepreneurs in Action! program is designed to accomplish the following:
• Encourage the development of a cross-disciplinary learning environment
• Connect learning with the framework of the learner
• Provide for just-in-time learning
• Utilize whole-part-whole teaching strategies
• Connect learning with local communities
• Use live cases
• Require the use of a variety of resources
• Provide online experts from the local community for content analysis
Featured Cases
• Blackout in America! – Electrical Energy
• A Question of Power – Oil Shortage
• Chasing the Dragon – Illegal Drugs
• Not in My Backyard! – Recycling
• Music City Blues – Music Business
• Talking to the Air – Wireless Technology
• The Santa Fe Effect – City Planning
• The Phoenix – Creating a Cyber Café
• Long Lines and Hot Tempers—Homeland Security
• Fashion, Fashion Everywhere and Nothing to Wear—International Fashion
• Medical Practice Management--University Nursing Program
The Entrepreneurs in Action Program (A cross discipline approach to teaching and
learning entrepreneurship) has been developed and tested in the following schools:
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN; Francis Marion University, Florence, SC; Anderson
University, Anderson, SC; Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY; Murray State
University, Murray, KY; Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, TN; Middle
Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN; Tennessee Wesleyan College, Athens,
TN, Rochester Institute of Technological Rochester, NY; Berry University, Miami FL;
Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX and Appalachian State University, Boone,
NC which will joint the program this fall.
Public schools involved are as follows: Sumner County Public Schools, Hendersonville,
Tennessee; Elmer Avenue Elementary School, Schenectady, New York; Fontainebleau High
School, Mandeville, Louisiana; Mt. Juliet Middle School, Mt. Juliet, Tennessee; Manzano
Vista Middle School, Los Lunas, New Mexico; Mitchell-Neilson Elementary School, Murfreesboro,
Tennessee.
The entire LIA and EIA programs and process can be viewed at http://entrepreneurship.vanderbilt.edu. The work has been supported by funds from The Coleman Foundation, NSF, Vanderbilt
University and several private sources.
Academic Background
David Lipscomb University, Nashville, Tennessee 1959, B.A., Chemistry
University of Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee 1960–63 (part-time), Economics, Management
Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee 1968, M.A., Economics
(Social Sciences)
George Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 1977, Ph.D.,
Educational Administration (Organizational Development)
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina Bush Public Policy Institute1981
Post-Doctoral Experience (sabbatical leave)
Selected Accomplishment
Commissioned by the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship to
write a series of articles for the Community College Entrepreneur Journal.
Founder and developer of the Center for Entrepreneurship Education at Vanderbilt
under a Coleman grant and later renamed the center to be the Entrepreneurship Forum
for Education at Vanderbilt University (A dialogue for innovation, creativity and
entrepreneurship education).
Developed the first entrepreneurship undergraduate course at Peabody College of Education
and Human Development in the Department of Human Development at Vanderbilt University.
Developed the first graduate course in entrepreneurship, humor and creativity course
at Peabody College of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University in
the department of Leadership, Policy and Organizations.
Developed the first freshman engineering entrepreneurship course for engineering
students at Vanderbilt College of Engineering.
Developed 5 regional Entrepreneurship Think Tank Institutes in the last 7 years.
The latest was held on August 7-8, 2006 and attracted more than 40 participants for
the southeast and from the United Arabic Emirates. Other Think Tank Institutes have
attracted more than 400 participants.
Developed 30 on campus Entrepreneurship Forums.
Received 3 Coleman Foundation Grants for infusing the “e” spirit into multiple disciplines
and multiple Universities.
Received 2 NSF Grants for infusing the “e” spirit into multiply universities
Served as the Associate Director of the Corporate Learning Institute at Vanderbilt
University ---All operational funds were developed as independent contractors.
Developed The Logo Classroom program as an independent contractor with IBM-- This
curriculum program was used in public school systems in approximately 48 states during
the 1980’s. The program taught multiple concepts as well independent thinking and
creativity—“e” spirit building”.
Developed with three other faculty members Peabody’s off campus graduate program
in the late 1970s and 1980’s that had sites operating in Chicago, IL; Manchester,
NH; Fairfax, VA; New Orleans, LA; Bangor, MA;-- At the time this was a very innovative
approach where the faculty that taught on campus also taught off campus thus providing
the same approach on as well as off campus. Students were required to be on campus
for two summers.
Served as the First Assistant Director for the John F. Kennedy Center for Research
on Human Development at Peabody College of Education and Human Development. Helped
secure more than $36 million for research from contracts and grants from NICHD, NIMH,
Foundations, State and Local contracts. (This center was one of the 12 national centers
on research in Human Development.—Other centers were at Universities like UCLA and
UNC at Chapel Hill, NC
My influence in this network brought about major innovations in computer technology
and management systems for University-government supported research efforts.
Developed the Peabody College Computer based alumni system.
Directed and secured grant funds to support the first Computer Center at Peabody
College.
Was a major player in the development on-line library systems at Vanderbilt University.
A founding faculty member of Columbia State Community College (CSCC) ---Tennessee’s
first State supported Community College.
Developed the first Computer Science Technology Program in Tennessee at CSCC.
Developed several new products at the DuPont Company.
Developed an international training program while employed by the DuPont Company.
Honors received
Peabody Round Table Honoree, 2005
Outstanding Educator Award for Innovative and Creative Teaching, The Academy of
Educational Leadership, 2005
Peabody Round Table Honoree, 2004
USASBE Outstanding Workshop Award, 2003
Coleman Senior Scholar, 2002
Research Award, Academy of Entrepreneurship Education, 2002
Research Award, Academy of Entrepreneurship Education, 2001
Nominated for the Vanderbilt Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award, 2000
Peabody Round Table Honoree, 1999
Coleman Scholar, 1998.
Sam Walton Free Enterprise Fellow, 1997.
Peabody Round Table Honoree, 1992.
Peabody Round Table Honoree, 1988.
Peabody Outstanding Faculty Award, May 1983.
Kentucky Colonel
Flying Colonel—Delta Airlines
Business Ventures
(Not only do I teach and influence others with the “e” spirit, but also I practice
the “e” spirit.)
Founder and President, Clouse and Associates (1975), a sole proprietorship.
Founder and President, Matrix Systems, Inc (1981). Severed as independent contractor
to IBM for 13 years. Purchase my first IPO at age 14. Developed an Executive Program
for the President of UCAR Inc. Served as an independent contractor to at least 50
different Public School Systems. Served as an independent contractor to the US Department
of Defense. Developed an Educational Training program for the Tennessee Academy for
School Leaders, Tennessee Department of Education as an independent contractor—Now
in its 7th year. Developed a marketing training program for IBM as an independent
contractor—it became the longest running marketing program ever developed at IBM----ran
for more that 5 years and influenced 1000’s of IBMers. Developed an International
Training program for the DuPont Company
Impact
Presented more than 500 presentations in multiple disciplinary organizations in at
least 48 of the 50 states and in at least 10 foreign countries -- all presentations
were about my work that includes systems thinking, creativity and entrepreneurship.
It is estimated this audience would be approximate 50 to 60 thousand people.
Taught more than 15 different types of courses at 5 different Universities. It is
estimated that I have influenced more than 8,000 students directly in my classes and
as a speaker. Served as chair for more than 125 doctoral graduate students all who
now serve in important roles across this county and several foreign countries. Several
former students own and operator their own businesses and or influence others. Literally
thousands of people have been influenced by this group of students … many have picked
up my “e" spirit and spread it across the world.
Has published more that 60 research articles and monograms.
Has developed more than 20 entrepreneurship cases.
Has presented more than 500 presentations at regional, national and international
research conferences.
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