Pierce J HowardPierce J. Howard grew up in Kinston, North Carolina, the youngest of seven, and attended public schools before studying at Davidson College (B.A.), East Carolina University (M.A.), and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (Ph.D.). While studyng at Chapel Hill, he taught English at Chapel Hill High School and later at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. After his studies at Chapel Hill, he took a position as head of School Services at the North Carolina Advancement School in Winston-Salem-a special program for research and dissemination regarding underachievement among teenagers. It was during this stay in Winston-Salem that he began using Values Clarification concepts and materials. He moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, to teach and administer in a school-within-a-school at West Charlotte High School. Since that time, He has worked as an organization development consultant in a variety of settings around the world, while continuing to teach undergraduate and graduate students at Queens University of Charlotte's McColl School of Business, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Pfeiffer University at Charlotte. He has lived out his values with his wife, Jane; daughters Hilary and Allegra; acquired son, Will; and grandchildren, Liam, Stella, Rowan, and A.J. At the Center for Applied Cognitive Studies, he devotes most of his time to his roles of co-founder and innovation officer (also known as director of research and development) and is involved in re-search, writing, and product development, mostly focused on the five-factor model of personality. He balances his professional life with model railroading (n-scale), playing chamber music, building models with grandchildren (next is a 19th-century schooner), singing in the choir (at Providence United Methodist Church), walking the incomparable streets of his Dilworth neighborhood, reading classics and lighter fare, indulging his gustatory senses through cooking and dining his way through the world's cuisines, traveling with Jane and their family to the great national parks of the U.S. and to bucket list destinations around the world-from Petra to the Terracotta Army of Xi'an-advising students on research projects, attending professional meetings, attending family and school reunions, and, in general, staying young. Or, as he describes in his book, dressing his elephant in ways that express his values. Read More Read Less