Simon Priest

Simon Priest is a university professor and higher education administrator. As a professor, he is most well known for his intensive research and extensive writing on Experience-based Training & Development, modern definitions of Outdoor Education (in terms of learning about relationships), Experiential Learning, the Educational Staircase (best teaching practices), the Adventure Experience Paradigm, and the Conditional Leadership Theory. His expertise also includes safety and risk taking, group facilitation, managerial competencies, educational technologies, and program evaluation, research & statistics. Heavily influenced by the work of Kurt Hahn and Willi Unsoeld, Priest received the Willi Unsoeld Award from the Association for Experiential Education in 2003.
University education
Priest earned his doctorate in education, management, recreation, and research & statistics from the University of Oregon. His masters of science education and information technology were received from Northern Illinois University and his bachelors in biochemistry, genetics, kinesiology, and environmental studies was given by Simon Fraser University in Canada.
Professional career
He began his academic career, in 1986, at Texas A&M University as an assistant professor. He was tenured and promoted to associate and then full professor at Brock University, where he was also Executive Director of the Corporate Adventure Training Institute (CATI). CATI was a research center of excellence that specialized in employee teamwork training and executive leadership development for Canadian and American corporations.
While on sabbatical, Priest founded and directed Canadian Tire Financial Services’ first corporate university. He has written many publications , some with his writing partner, Dr. Michael A Gass from the University of New Hampshire, and been awarded visiting fellowships at universities around the world.
By 1997, he had left higher education for the world of dotcom entrepreneurship, working primarily with Microsoft executive John Chen. Priest was founding President & CEO of virtualteamworks.com: a Seattle-based startup conducting E-learning, virtual teambuilding, leadership development, and electronic facilitation training through experiential methods and by using online communication tools. During this time, he and Chen also co-invented Geo-Teaming: a combination of geocaching and technology used to build teamwork through a mix of collaborative and competitive processes.
After the sale of these companies, Priest returned to higher education in 2005, but this time, as an administrator. He was Professor of Education and Dean of Adult Learning & Professional Education for the Wescoe School of Continuing Education at Muhlenberg College and was Professor of Business and Provost & Vice-Chancellor of Academics for Colorado Technical University. He is currently Professor of Management and the Senior Vice President of Academics for the Virginia College system, applying his expertise in technology and best teaching practices to their E-learning environments and online universities.
Personal life
He has also worked with volunteer organizations and has a pair of Star Trek characters named after him.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu