Cool Things My Friends Do: Art Markman - Director, University of Texas HDO

Each Friday on this blog I enjoy highlighting some of the cool things my friends do in their personal and professional lives.

This week I had coffee with my new friend, Art Markman.  Art is the director of a new type of executive education program at the University of Texas at Austin. The Human Dimensions of Organizations program is focused on understanding the people who drive today's global marketplace and offers two types of innovative education opportunities:

The HDO's Master of Arts degree was created for leaders in the business and nonprofit sectors searching for a more comprehensive understanding of how human behavior and experience affects the global marketplace.

One-day Professional Seminars allow businesses, nonprofits, and individuals the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of particular subjects often unavailable in an executive-friendly format.

Next week they kick off their first class of graduate students.  It is a very cool program, and after spending time on their website I am interested in enrolling in several of their one day seminars (the dates of these upcoming programs were not published when I wrote this post).  Many of their topics are complimentary to what I already believe about human engagement, and I am excited to have the opportunity to learn academic specifics from the amazing professors in this program.

This HDO brings together some of UT Austin’s finest researchers in the Humanities and the Social and Behavioral Sciences with an interest in educating the rising generation of leaders in the business and nonprofit communities.

Art is also a professor of psychology & marketing at UT and an active business consultant, speaker, and author.  He proclaims himself a "collector of people", and from the moment we met it was clear that he is someone who understands the power of relationships and actively promotes the success of those in his network.  

I look forward to seeing his new program expand, as I am confident that many professionals in Austin (and beyond) will benefit from this educational opportunity.  Check it out!

Have A Great Day

thom singer