SCIENCE ADVISORS

Distinguished scientists from many disciplines, all of whom share a deep interest in complex systems, have come together to provide guidance and support for the work of Plexus.

Ruth A. Anderson, RN, PhD, FAAN, is one of the nation's leading nurse scientists applying complexity science to research, practice, and education. She has published numerous articles on how relationship patterns and complexity-inspired management practices improve patient outcomes and work environments of healthcare organizations. She is Professor and Chair of the Nursing PhD Program at Duke University School of Nursing.

James W. Begun, PhD, a highly regarded teacher and scholar known for his work to strengthen the relationship of complexity science to health care management education and research, is James A. Hamilton Professor in the Division of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota. His publications include the book, Strategic Adaptation in the Health Professions: Meeting the Challenges of Change.

Kevin Dooley, PhD, an internationally respected scholar and teacher in the areas of quality management, innovation, and complex systems, is professor of supply chain management at Arizona State University, and COO of Crawdad Technologies. Kevin has published over 100 articles and books.

Glenda Eoyang, is a pioneer in the field of human systems dynamics. She applies principles of self-organizing systems to help people thrive in unpredictable environments. Since 1988, she has provided training, consulting, coaching, research, evaluation, and facilitation support to organizations in the public and private sectors. She is currently serving as founding Executive Director of the Human Systems Dynamics Institute, a network of professionals working at the intersection of complexity and social sciences. Her published works include numerous scholarly and practical articles, Coping with Chaos: Seven Simple Tools (HSD Institute Press, 1997), Facilitating Organization Change: Lessons from Complexity Science (Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 2001), and Voices from the Field: An Introduction to Human Systems Dynamics (HSD Institute Press, 2003). She is an associate of the Center for Evaluation, Planning, and Assessment at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

Ary Goldberger, MD, a cardiologist, directs the Margret and H.A. Rey Institute for Nonlinear Dynamics in Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA. He is also program director of the NIH Research Resource for Complex Physiologic Signals. He is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Ary is one of the country's leading physician researchers on complexity and human health. He has long-standing interest in electrocardiography and non-invasive electrophysiology and is the author of two standard textbooks on ECG analysis. He and colleagues at Beth Israel have also created ECG Wave-Maven, an open-access program for medical students and clinicians.

Jeffrey Goldstein, PhD, is a professor at the Adelphi University School of Business and an associate clinical professor at Adelphi's Derner Institute for Advanced Psychological Studies. He is a pioneer in the application of complexity theory to organizations and leadership, and wrote The Unshackled Organization, a widely acclaimed book on the subject. He is the author of more than 80 scholarly articles and is co-editor of the journal Emergence: Complexity an Organization.

Brian Goodwin, PhD, is a professor of biology and coordinator of the MSc program in Holistic Science at the Schumacher College. He is the author of many articles and books, including How The Leopard Changed Its Spots: The Evolution of Complexity, and Signs of Life: How Complexity Pervades Biology (with Ricard V. Sole). Dr. Goodwin has long been associated with the Santa Fe Institute and is recognized internationally for his pioneering work in complexity and biology.

John Holland, PhD, is one of the acknowledged founders of the emerging science of complexity. He is professor of psychology, electrical engineering and computer science at University of Michigan. He serves on the Santa Fe Institute Board of Trustees and the board's Executive Committee, and is a member of the Institute's external faculty. Among John's many publications are Hidden Order: How Adaptation Builds Complexity and Emergence: From Chaos To Order. Among his many awards is a MacArthur prize.

Neal Kaufman, MD, is director of the Division of Academic Primary Care Pediatrics at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA. He is a professor of Pediatrics and Public Health at the UCLA Schools of Medicine and Public Health. He has been active in local, state and national efforts to improve the lives and health of impoverished and disadvantaged children.

Stuart Kauffman, MD, MPH, is Co-Director of the UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities, Professor of Pediatrics and Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Commissioner, First 5 LA Commission -- a $110 million per year government based foundation charged with improving outcomes for young children. In 2004, after his 26 year career in academic pediatrics, Dr. Kaufman founded the Diabetes Prevention Source to develop and provide effective technology-enabled behavior change interventions. He is a leader in local, state and national efforts to: improve the health of individuals by improving the health of neighborhoods and communities; educating patients and providers; delivering healthcare to high risk and vulnerable women and children; and advocating for healthy communities.

J.A. Scott Kelso, PhD, is Glenwood and Martha Creech Chair in Science, professor of psychology, biological science and biomedical science, and director of the Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences at Florida Atlantic University. He is the author of Dynamic Patterns: The Self-Organization of Brain and Behavior, (MIT Press, 1995) and is editor in chief of Understanding Complex Systems, a new book series by Springer-Verlag.

Larry Liebovitch, PhD, Graduate Programs Director of the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science of Florida Atlantic University, and Professor at FAU's Center for Complex Systems and Brain Science, Center for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, and the Department of Psychology. He is a physicist and astronomer who has applied nonlinear methods to analyze molecular, cellular, physiological and psychological systems. He has written more than 75 articles and book chapters and is the author of Fractals and Chaos Simplified for the Life Sciences.

Robert Lindberg, MD, practices internal medicine in Darien, CT. Bob is on the teaching faculty of the Columbia University School of Medicine and also New York Medical College. He is among the first physicians to incorporate complexity concepts into the practice of medicine. He has been recognized in both the Guide to America's Top Physicians and Best Doctor directories.

Gerald E. McGinnis, founder in 1976 of Respironics, Inc. (RESP), an international medical device company, served as the company's president and chief executive officer until he was elected in 1994 to his current position as board chairman. A mechanical engineer by training and utilizing more than 15 registered U.S. patents, he pioneered development and worldwide marketing of numerous medical technology products including development of patient airway interface devices, non-invasive patient ventilation devices and positive pressure airway devices for treating obstructive sleep apnea in home care.

Reuben R. McDaniel, Jr., EdD, a widely respected organizational theorist, is Charles and Elizabeth Prothro Regents Chair in Health Care Management and professor of management science and information systems at the University of Texas at Austin. Reuben was one of the first to research the impact of complexity-inspired leadership approaches in health care organizations.

Gareth Morgan, PhD, is currently distinguished research professor at York University, Toronto, and founder of Newmindsets, an internet-based management learning system. Gareth pioneered the approach of using multiple lenses and metaphors to deepen our understanding of organizations in his classic text Images of Organization.

Thomas Petzinger, Jr., a consultant and entrepreneur, spent 22 years as a reporter, columnist, bureau chief and Washington economics editor at The Wall Street Journal. He is author of The New Pioneers: The Men and Women Who Are Transforming the Workplace and Marketplace, an Amazon.com Top 10 bestseller. He is currently chairman and CEO of LaunchCyte LLC, a bio-informatics technology network in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Paul Plsek is an internationally recognized consultant, author and educator on improvement and innovation in organizations. He is dedicated to applying insights from complexity science and innovation research to issues of organizational leadership. Paul speaks and conducts workshops widely on the topic and serves as an advisor to the Institute of Medicine in the US and the National Health Service in the UK.

Patricia Rush, MD, MBA, an internal medicine physician with expertise in chronic illness, has created an innovative primary care practice using complexity science principles. Dr. Rush is dedicated to creating an effective, universally-available system for promoting health, and reducing disparities in health of marginalized populations. Her work focuses on the basic foundations of how we understand health and disease. In the past ten years Dr. Rush has also studied Traditional Chinese Medicine - as a 2000 year old medical system based on non-linear dynamics.

Marilyn Rymer, MD, an internationally respected neurologist, leads the Stroke Center at Saint Luke's Hospital in Kansas City. This center has become a national model, cited by Time magazine as one of the seven finest stroke programs in this country. Marilyn serves on the boards of many national medical and health care organizations

Arvind Singhal, PhD, Presidential Research Scholar and Professor in the School of Communication Studies at Ohio University, has studied diffusion of innovation, mobilization for change, and strategic communication. He is the author of several articles and books, including Combating AIDS: Communication Strategies in Action, which he wrote with Everett Rogers, and Children of Africa Confront AIDS: From Vulnerability to Possibility, edited with W. Stephen Howard.

Ralph D. Stacey, PhD, is professor and director, Complexity and Management Centre, University of Hertfordshire, author of many books, including Complexity and Management: Fad or Radical Challenge To Systems Thinking, and Complexity and Group Processes: a Radically Social Understanding of Individuals. He is one of the world's leaders in bringing a complexity and relational perspective into the fields of management and psychology.

Jerry Sternin founded the Positive Deviance Initiative at the Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition and is a pioneer in applying the concepts of positive deviance to address social challenges in diverse settings all over the world. He and his wife, Monique Sternin, successfully used PD to bring sustainable improvement to child nutrition in Vietnam and other countries. Jerry has been US country director for Save the Children in Bangladesh, The Phillippines, Vietnam, Egypt and Myanmar. He has also been an assistant dean and student advisor at the Harvard Business School.

Muneesh Tewari, MD, PhD, has joined the human biology division of the Fred Hutchinson Center Research Center in Seattle. He was formerly a post-doctoral research fellow and instructor in medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. In 1990 he was named one of the top U.S. College students. He earned his MD degree and doctoral degrees in cellular and molecular biology at the University of Michigan. He served his residency in internal medicine, his specialty training in oncology, and has written frequently-cited papers in cell biology and medical science.

Bruce J West, PhD, was a research scientist in industry for twenty years (La Jolla Institute), a university professor in physics for ten years (University of North Texas), and is now Chief Scientist in the Mathematical and Information Sciences Directorate at the Army Research Office. In each of these incarnations he has had an abiding interest in the application of nonlinear dynamics systems theory and complexity theory to biomedical and social phenomena. He has published eight books in these areas over the past twenty years at various levels of mathematical sophistication, founding such research areas as fractal physiology. He has published over 250 research articles and is a Fellow of the Army Research Laboratory and a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

Edward O. Wilson, PhD, considered to be one of the world's greatest living scientists, has made important contributions to the fields of population genetics, evolutionary biology, entomology, and ethology over his distinguished career. He has written or contributed to over a dozen books, and was awarded Pulitzer Prizes for On Human Nature, and The Ants. A recipient of many of the world's leading prizes in science and conservation, he is currently Pellegrino University Research Professor at Harvard University.

Brenda Zimmerman, PhD, is Professor of Policy/Strategic Management, Schulich School of Business at York University. She is the author of many articles applying complexity science to organizational strategy and change, and a co-author of the book Edgeware: Insights From Complexity Science for Health Care Leaders. Her gifts for scholarship, teaching and writing have brought many advancements to complexity and the management field and reached many practitioners and policy makers.