Dr. Eugene Kowch

Biography

Dr. Eugene Kowch is an Associate Professor in the Leadership, Policy & Governance specialization at the Werklund School of Education. He is the higher education leadership program development team and as coordinator of that program for a decade, his students learn from research to build up leaders who lead systemic change in complex, more adaptable learning institutions and organizations.  With a PhD in Higher Education Administration, Dr. Kowch works to improve education systems through cutting edge leadership, innovation and research to help people working together is my his goal. By taking a complex ecosystem perspective on leadership, policy and governance is the goal. As one of few transdisciplinary international scholar/leaders integrating learning environment design with education organization and next-generation leadership/admin theory, his teaching, writing, and service builds leadership capacity and capability by integrating technology-enhanced learning environment (learning science) design thinking with complex adaptive learning organization thinking to support next-generation leaders and policymakers facing constant, unpredictable change in thriving education ecosystems. 

His numerous leadership roles in professional associations, industry, K-12 and university education systems, and research teams around the world focus on Asia, SE Asia, North and Central America, Africa, and Europe. Prior to joining the University of Calgary, his professional practice in the energy sector and education sectors began as a petrophysicist and reservoir engineer at the Saskatchewan Oil and Gas (Nexen/CNOOC: China National Offshore Oil) Corporation. While pursuing a B.Com degree, he was invited to join Unocal (Chevron) Canada’s head offices to lead international, mega-project exploration, development, and corporate development (M&A) globally. Seeking to help lift the public sector with this experience, he attained a B.Ed. (Great Distinction), MA (Curriculum Studies) and Ph.D. (Education Administration) degrees at the University of Saskatchewan while working as a K 12 teacher, principal (Head), and Deputy Superintendent of Schools. Joining the university in 2002, as a professor in the Werklund School of Education Dr. Kowch has graduated over a dozen doctoral student supervisees with scores of master's degree student researchers focused on education innovation, systems thinking and innovation leadership research for more adaptable education ecosystems. He pioneered the development of online education doctoral programs as Coordinator, Post Secondary Ed D and Masters Programs, now teaching both on-campus and online undergraduate and graduate (MA, MEd, EdD & Ph.D.) advanced courses in; education organization change and design, leadership development, transdisciplinary learning, innovation leadership, leadership capacity building, organization adaptability, and research methods. He has served as a Graduate Program Director and as Chair of the Leadership, Policy & Governance unit, and as Chair of the University of Calgary research committees such as the SSHRC Engage Partnership, SUPPORT, and SSHRC Faculty Seed Grant Committees, as well as the General Faculty Council Student Appeals Committee. Dr. Kowch has edited a recent major reference work (Book) on Systems Thinking and Change (Springer Nature) and chaired several large international conference planning teams while producing over 150 publications, workshops, and 19 invited keynote addresses offered in over 14 countries to millions interested in leading innovation and artificial intelligence in education. Most recently, he leads research to help education leaders, teachers, universities, and communities to learn and lead the coming energy transition with solar and geothermal innovation. In 2022-23 he offered several keynotes to higher education systems in Thailand, India, the USA, Canada Japan and China on leading the changing, adaptable research university of the future (with AI). 

Professional & Community Affiliations

Dr. Kowch has been elected by members to lead major international professional associations spanning much of the globe over the last 2 decades, serving scholarly and practitioner members practicing in universities, colleges and school systems in over 140 countries. His interest is in linking diverse professional cultures by advancing education leadership and innovation research. Dr. Kowch is among a few in the world who integrate education leadership, policy & governance scholarship with educational technology/teaching and learning design scholarship using chaos and complexity theory within the field of education. 

He has been President of the American Education Research Association (AERA) Chaos and Complexity SIG (Washington, DC) and a Past President and CEO of the Association of Education Communications and Technology (AECT) (Bloomington, IL) as well as a President of the AECT Systems Thinking and Change Division. His awards include national awards for research and publication on systems thinking and innovation leadership. Both are premier professional societies charged with leading education research and communications technologies involving hundreds of thousands of professors and practicing professional educators and leaders in education systems around the world. His major achievements in this service have been a large expansion in membership services and international professional (Association) affiliate networks such as ThaiAECT and the Japan Association of Education Technology.  Dr. Kowch has formed strong global networks between university scholars with practitioners through the development of new publications, journals, books, research association alliances, and think tanks linking European, Canadian, China, Asia, and SE Asian education systems (universities, school districts, governments, NATO, etc.). 

Dr. Kowch serves on many international journal Boards and international Conference Planning Committees as a Co-Chair and colleague/leader.

• IAC SLIBNU: Board Member, International Advisory Committee. Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal Unviersity (Beijing, China).
• ICEEL 2023: Program Committee Chair, 7th International Conference on Education and E-Learning (Tokyo, Japan)
• IJCIME Co-Planner, International Joint Conference on Information, Media, and Engineering (Osaka, Japan). 
• BJET: British Journal of Educational Technology: Editorial Committee Board Member. 
• AECT: Association of Education Administration, Communication and Technology (Chicago, IL., USA) / Board Past President, Executive. Conference Planner: Jacksonville, FL).
• ICET: Co-Conference Planner, International Conference on Educational Technology, (Beijing, PRC) 
• GERA: International Conference Arkhand EDUCON Global Education Research (Bathinda, Punjab, India)
• AERA: American Association for Education Research (Complexity Group) / SIG Member, Past President. 
• CSSE/CASEA: Canadian Association for the Study of Education Administration (CSSE). (London, Ont.). /Dissertation Awards Reviewer, Member. 
• Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences (FHSS) and Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE): Program Chair, Canadian Association for Research Association (CERA), Calgary.