About
The Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University was established in 1999 to collect and preserve the work of Peter F. Drucker to make it available to scholars, students, and writers, and to make his work and philosophy effective in the practice of management.
It is now home to nearly a century of research on the Practice of Management, providing lifelong learners the opportunity to explore the work of Peter Drucker the “Father of Modern Management” and other leading thinkers, including Tom Peters and Charles Handy, to support the work of “strengthening organizations to strengthen society.”
Drucker was the first to see that the developing world was turning into a “society of organizations,” and the strength of our communities hinges on all of our institutions—private, public, and nonprofit—being effective and responsible. To him, the most significant ingredient to the success of these organizations was the presence of an effective executive, who had the skills and ability to “get the right things done”, no matter what the size of the organization.
Drucker had seen firsthand what happens when society stops functioning, having witnessed the rise of the Nazis in the aftermath of the Great War and Depression. This was the central theme of the first of the 39 major books – The End of Economic Man – that he would publish throughout his extraordinarily long and productive career. “These catastrophes broke through the everyday routine which makes men accept existing forms, institutions and tenets as unalterable laws…They suddenly exposed the vacuum behind the façade of society.”
Drucker was determined never to let things break down like that again and set out to help leaders build effective and responsible institutions, learning much from rising corporate leaders, which helped inform the writing of some of his most popular books – The Effective Executive, The Concept of the Corporation, The Practice of Management.
The Creator and Inventor of Modern Management
A label proclaimed for him by Tom Peters, who studied Peter’s work and went on to become one of the most sought-after minds on management philosophy and practice.
Even as he became best known, especially in The United States, as a writer on management, it was not his foremost concern. The majority of his books deal with community, society, and polity. He strongly believed that man in his social and political existence must have a functioning society where an individual has status in the community, function in society, and trust in their major institutions.
The work of society is carried out through the “society of organizations”: (1) Public sector organizations in which the work of federal, state, and local government is carried out. (2) Private sector organizations, established to meet the economic needs and wants of citizens (3) Social sector (sometimes referred to as nonprofit) organizations to care for those health and welfare needs of citizens that are not met fully either by public or private sector organizations. For a society to function well, its organizations should be single-purpose institutions, while working together to leverage their resources to drive positive change.
If the institutions of our pluralist society of institutions do not perform with responsible autonomy, we will not have individualism and a society in which there is a chance for people to fulfill themselves. We will instead impose on ourselves complete regimentation in which no one will be allowed autonomy. Tyranny is the only alternative to strong, performing autonomous institutions. Freedom is not so much a right as a duty. Real freedom is not freedom from something; that would be license. It is freedom to choose between doing or not doing something, to act one way or another, to hold one belief or the opposite.
Today the Institute and its mission – Strengthening Organizations to Strengthen Society – has helped it become a destination for those committed to a lifetime of learning. Its world-class executive education opportunities and leadership and management training are renowned for helping people manage with courage.
Drucker Institute Board Members
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Leadership
Michael H. Kelly
Michael H. Kelly serves as the executive director of the Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University. The Institute was established in 1999 to collect and preserve Peter Drucker’s work and make it available to leaders, managers, scholars, students, and writers, advancing initiatives to support the practice of management. The Institute is now home to nearly a century of research on the Practice of Management, providing leaders and scholars an opportunity to learn “to strengthen organizations to strengthen society.
He is also the founding partner of the Sconset Group, advising public, private, and nonprofit leaders on solutions that generate economic growth, quality jobs, housing, and a skilled workforce. And the author of a weekly newsletter – Insights on LA. Mr. Kelly has worked in several high-level positions – The Los Angeles Coalition for the Economy & Jobs, The Boeing Company, and with California Governors Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
He is also the founding chair of the Philanthropic Foundation for California State University, Dominguez Hills, an advisory board member for WorkingNation, cofounder of LA Goes Pink, and a former Trustee of AltaSea at the Port of LA. Michael received an Economics Degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Southern California. He was a Dean’s Merit Scholar at USC. Michael is married to Mia Kelly and is the proud father of three daughters.
Daniel Martin
Daniel serves as Chief Data Scientist and Drucker Fellow for the Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University. Daniel is currently pursuing a PhD in Positive Organizational Psychology at CGU, where he specializes in behavioral assessment development, the application of AI in personal and professional development practices, and the effects of positive emotion on professional communication networks. Daniel’s professional work involves collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data to enhance organizational decision-making, as well as helping inform the development of technical systems to aid in automating these processes wherever possible. Daniel is passionate about applying his expertise in quantitative methodologies to help leaders make decisions that are informed by logical reasoning and sound evidence. Daniel’s work with us helps ensure that our processes yield measurable results that align with our mission and goals as an institution.
Cecilia Contreras
Cecilia serves as the Archivist for the Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University. Her work consists of arranging, describing, preserving, and providing access to the various collections within the Drucker Institute archives, which include but are not limited to the Peter F. Drucker Papers, Tom J. Peters Papers, and the Drucker Institute Collection. She is committed to assisting students, researchers, and the like with all their research-related needs. Cecilia holds a Master’s in Library and Information Science with specializations in archival and library studies from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a B.A. in History from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
Lewis Rowe
Lewis serves as a Drucker Institute Fellow at Claremont Graduate University. His work involves translating Peter Drucker’s ideas and ideals into inspiring management programs, for rising and established leaders within the public, private and social sectors.
As a management and design consultant, Lewis collaborated with corporations including Microsoft, Pfizer, Motorola, Panasonic, and IBM. As an entrepreneur, Lewis led a high-growth spin-out venture from Harvard University’s Wyss Institute as the startup’s Chief Strategy Officer.
In the social sector, his purposeful work includes fellow tenures within the impact investing arm of a global humanitarian organization and a government-funded accelerator, fostering community-driven innovation for a sustainable world.
Lewis earned his degree at the University of Wales Trinity St David and his executive education certification in Strategy (Design Thinking & Innovation) at Harvard Business School. Lewis is named as an inventor on numerous patents. His work has been recognized by the World Economic Forum, National Geographic, and the London Design Museum.
Chasen Jeffries
Chase serves as a Drucker Institute Fellow for Innovation and a driven PhD candidate at Claremont Graduate University, where his work in International Political Economy and Computational Analytics is breaking new ground. With a keen focus on blending qualitative and quantitative research methods, Chasen adeptly merges traditional data science with advanced computational techniques to explore and unravel the complexities of global economic and political systems.
His dissertation delves into the impact of patent systems on innovation, employing a novel Patent Entry Barrier Index (PEBI), and network analysis to transcend traditional analyses. It reviews the Ginarte and Park (G-P) index, before offering a comprehensive framework to understand and optimize patent systems for economic growth. This transdisciplinary approach not only redefines existing methodologies but also equips policymakers and businesses with insights for fostering innovation and strategic decision-making. The findings significantly influence the optimization of patent policies, underscoring the crucial role of patent systems in driving domestic and global economic development and innovation ecosystems.