A Closer Look at a Business Renaissance Executive: An Interview with Ken Nielsen

Business Renaissance Quarterly, Spring 2008

Kenneth R. Nielsen has been President of Woodbury University for the past twelve years. He has degrees from the University of Wisconsin and the University of Wyoming with postgraduate work at Harvard University. Dr. Nielsen has written several new chapters in the Woodbury University history. His vision, action and personal philosophy have created the new Woodbury based on the Pop Whitten Legacy.

Woodbury has a personalized high quality education underpinned by a caring faculty and staff. This learning family has resulted in extraordinary, first-class achievements by all members of the community. The learning environment is a carefully constructed action plan, which has resulted in Woodbury University's special "brand" of education. The University now has financial security for the future because of Nielsen's careful effort to use the resources and gather both current and future dollars for the security of the school. Enrollment has reached all time highs and the quality of incoming students has been ranked among the best in the nation. Nielsen's personal belief in unleashing the human potential has given faculty, staff, and students as well as the Trustees the freedom to develop and use their potentials to the fullest possible result.

The framework from his educational philosophy can be found in his own educational training as a humanistic psychologist using Carl Rogers's theory and book On Becoming a Person. Rogers believed that every person has the potential to become outstanding if they are given the freedom to achieve. Woodbury has solved the problem of how to uncover this human potential. Kenneth R. Nielsen has learned his lessons from Carl Rogers very well and uses these concepts to bring Woodbury and her students into the light. The alumni of Woodbury have a University that they can point to with great pride and satisfaction. The "American Dream" has been achieved for the past, present and future students who have benefited from this Woodbury University "brand" of education. The focus on practical education based on theory has set the University apart from its competitors. Nielsen has built on the mission of Woodbury for the past 125-year history.

BRQ; What makes you a business renaissance executive?

KN: Quality/ quality/ quality has been the hallmark of every idea, proposal, and new program.

My business for the past 40 years has been higher education. I believe that education can and must be an innovative lifelong process. The opportunities I have had my receiving training in education, psychology, and administration were foundations for my own career development and that of Woodbury University.

As president, I am responsible for the quality of the academic direction of the University. Assuring that all the unit goals are organized so as to support the mission of the institution is a part of my leadership style. My quest for new ideas and my drive for change have served Woodbury effectively.

BRQ: How do you think you stand out compared to other business executives?

KN: My broad experience being a University President for the past 25 years and more than 40 years of other experiences at different institutions across the country has allowed me to gather background knowledge and utilize the various options for improving Woodbury University. I have been prepared to deal with the realities of our times.

It is imperative for the leader of the University team to guide the choices and establish the priorities for the next decade in order to promote the support, vitality, and the responsiveness of Woodbury.

BRQ: What do you consider your greatest achievement so far?

KN: My personal style of building a University family so that the personal investments and interests of each group have been achieved was essential. My greatest achievement would be coordinating the diverse constituencies of Woodbury in order to balance the specific needs of the faculty, administrators, students, alumni, Trustees, donors, community leaders and parents. Being the leader of Woodbury has allowed me to meet the needs of these diverse groups including their racial, ethnic, and gender backgrounds all partnering in the educational process. People are the most important part of Woodbury's equation and I have been successful in harnessing those individuals towards a central or common goal.

BRQ: What Is your personal definition of success?

KN: Being able to free each individual within the University community to achieve their highest level of personal potential.

BRQ: What makes you happy?

KN: Bringing together: the vision, leadership, action plans, and experience toward our common goal makes me happy and satisfied. I have had the energy and drive for the success of a very important enterprise-that of higher education.

BRQ: What do you want to be remembered for?

KN: Our society will be a better place because of the good works of Woodbury graduates. Students have used their education not only to earn a living but to go out into the community to serve their fellow human beings and make an impact on the future that is both positive and sensitive to human needs.