Obituary: Dr Gordon Charles Hard (1931-2021)

Dr Gordon Hard, of Tairua, New Zealand, a preeminent international toxicology thought leader and international consultant in toxicologic pathology of the kidney, passed on November 22, 2021. He was a key player in shaping and developing the global field of toxicologic pathology and the role of toxicologic pathology in risk assessment of environmental chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

Introduction to Symposium on The Humble Cosmopolitan by Luis Cabrera

This piece introduces a symposium on Luis Cabrera’s The Humble Cosmopolitan (Oxford University Press, 2020), which is a comparative political theory text in three senses. First, it expands conventional conversation partners to include authors who are engaged in constructing their nation out of a colonial context, principally, Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar is a scholar, politician, Chairman of the Constitutional Drafting Committee for the newly independent India, and Dalit activist (“Dalit” being the self-applied term for those outside of the Hindu caste hierarchy) and Madhavrao Sadashivrao Golwalkar, the historical thought leader of Hindu nationalism. Second, Cabrera reaches across the colonized-colonizer divide, engaging with intra-nation difference, enabling cross-time comparisons, broadening the moral and political meanings of, contributions to, and criticisms of cosmopolitan thinking. Third, using grounded normative theory, it is methodologically comparative, utilizing the author’s own empirical research through over 150 interviews of activists and politicians from both Indian and European cosmopolitan and anti-cosmopolitan struggles.

From the Editors

Friends, Deb Armstrong and I have reached the culmination of our editorial term, and K.D. Joshi of University of Nevada-Reno has been chosen as the new Editor-in-Chief. Professor Joshi is a long-time contributor, Senior Editor, and thought leader in our parent organization, ACM SIGMIS, and its venerable CPR conference. K.D. has a marvelous vision, superb connections with our ACM SIGMIS CPR constituency, and an operational record second to none. She will be a great leader for continuing the growth trajectory of The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems.

Is “character” the link between organizational learning and learning organization? An interview with Mary M. Crossan

Purpose This paper aims to provide an overview of the Organization Learning and Learning Organization concepts obtaining the perspectives of Professor Mary M. Crossan and presents an evolution of her immense contribution to the field over the past two decades. Design/methodology/approach A conversation with thought-leader, Professor Mary M. Crossan. Findings How different “character configurations” and “processes” enhance organization learning across levels in the organization. Originality/value The discussion with Professor Mary M. Crossan reveals her take on the evolution of the organizational learning framework and the significant role of the “Leader’s Character” in shaping organizational learning. Exploring this evolution provides the context and impetus to researchers and practice leaders to verify.

The Pransky interview: Dr Nabil Simaan, Vanderbilt University Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science and Otolaryngology, Thought Leader in Medical Robotics

Purpose The following article is a “Q&A interview” conducted by Joanne Pransky of Industrial Robot Journal as a method to impart the combined technological, business and personal experience of a prominent, robotic industry PhD and innovator regarding his pioneering efforts. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The interviewee is Dr Nabil Simaan, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science and Otolaryngology at Vanderbilt University. He is also director of Vanderbilt’s Advanced Robotics and Mechanism Applications Research Laboratory. In this interview, Simaan shares his unique perspective and approaches on his journey of trying to solve real-world problems in the medical robotics area. Findings Simaan received his BSc, MSc and PhD in mechanical engineering from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. He served as Postdoctoral Research Scientist in Computer Science at Johns Hopkins University. In 2005, he joined Columbia University, New York, NY, as an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering until 2010, when he joined Vanderbilt. His current applied research interests include synthesis of novel robotic systems for surgical assistance in confined spaces with applications to minimally invasive surgery of the throat, natural orifice surgery, cochlear implant surgery and dexterous bimanual microsurgery. Theoretical aspects of his research include robot design and kinematics. Originality/value Dr Simaan is a leading pioneer on designing robotic systems and mechanisms for medical applications. Examples include technologies for snake robots licensed to Intuitive Surgical; technologies for micro-surgery of the retina, which led to the formation of AURIS Surgical Robotics; the insertable robotic effector platform (IREP) single-port surgery robot that served as the research prototype behind the Titan Medical Inc. Sport (Single Port Orifice Robotic Technology). Simaan received the NSF Career award for young investigators to design new algorithms and robots for safe interaction with the anatomy. He has served as the Editor for IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Robotics, Editorial Board Member of Robotica, Area Chair for Robotics Science and Systems and corresponding Co-chair for the IEEE Technical Committee on Surgical Robotics. In January 2020, he was bestowed the award of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Fellow for Robotics Advancements. At the end of 2020, he was named a top voice in health-care robotics by technology discovery platform InsightMonk and market intelligence firm BIS Research. Simaan holds 15 patents. A producer of human capital, his education goal is to achieve the best possible outcome with every student he works with.

Teachers and Sowers

This chapter begins by considering the relation between the models of the teacher and the sower, which might seem very similar to each other. In Plato’s Phaedrus, the thought leader sows ideas by teaching; and teachers leave behind students capable of teaching others, so extending the original teacher’s legacy. The models are nonetheless distinct, even if they often converge: the teacher model focuses on the relationship between the leader and their immediate followers, stressing the need for rational communication; the sower looks beyond the relationship between the leader and their immediate followers towards subsequent generations, and to the perpetuation of ideas. Most of the chapter is then taken up with two case studies that show the two models working hand in hand: Florence Nightingale, who revolutionized nursing, and Margaret Mead, the US anthropologist, who helped transform attitudes to the family and sex in twentieth-century America.

International Positive Youth Development: Challenges and Opportunities in Policy and Practice

This special issue of the Journal of Youth Development on international positive youth development brings together diverse perspectives of research, practice, and policy regarding the challenges and opportunities facing international efforts to promote the positive development of youth. To represent a plurality of perspectives on international PYD, the authors sought to represent a variety of continents, countries, genders, races, ethnicities, sectors, and levels of experience with publishing. There is also variety in the types of articles such as case studies, presentations of frameworks and curricula, letter-style commentary by youth, and cutting-edge research methodologies and studies. A few key themes frame the volume, including (a) diversity in definitions of youth and operationalizations of PYD; (b) the multifaceted and multidimensional ways in which PYD is integrated into different sectors, domains, and types of programmatic and organizational contexts; and (c) the importance of and need for an accessible evidence base of PYD informed by rigorous science. Thought leader commentaries are interspersed in the beginning, middle, and end of the issue. The articles represent the current state of the field of PYD internationally with an outlook toward the future and how the integration of PYD research and practice can enhance contributions of youth to equity, social justice, and democracy.

Thought Leader Insights on Innovation Ecosystems and Clusters

This article provides short, “book reviews” and selected comments on recent, popular books that focused on ecosystems and clusters. They include: AnnaLee Saxenian (reflections and lessons from “Regional Advantage”; Leslie Berlin (the building of Silicon Valley from “Troublemakers”); Richard Florida (reflections and extensions of “The Creative Class”); and, Greg Horowitt (lessons from “Rainforest”).