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Michael Ludwell is an experienced school administrator who has provided exceptional leadership for students throughout the United States over the course of more than three decades.
School administrator Michael Ludwell has accumulated more than 35 years of experience in educating students and leading school districts across the country. Michael Ludwell’s interest in education began while he was studying history at Loyola University in Los Angeles. After deciding to pursue a career in education, Michael Ludwell split his time between teaching in all levels of public school and undertaking graduate-level coursework at the University of Montana, the University of Oregon, and Northern Arizona University. By the time he became a career school administrator in Missouri, Michael Ludwell was on his way to earning a Ph.D. in Education Administration at St. Louis University in 1994. While serving as Director of Secondary Education of the Normandy School District in Missouri, Michael Ludwell spearheaded the implementation of the block scheduling system in 1998, establishing the district as one of the first in the Midwest to do so. Block scheduling expands the amount of time per class while reducing the number of classes per day. The method of scheduling allows students to benefit from their classes and also provides them with the opportunity to choose more electives. As a result of his success in implementing block scheduling, Michael Ludwell consulted for the State of Missouri and the United States Department of Education to help other school districts implement the system. Following that period, Michael Ludwell went on to become Superintendent of the Manchester School District in New Hampshire. Michael Ludwell’s tenure as the district’s Superintendent was marked by budget surpluses, a lower dropout rate than the state average, and the creation of a program that allowed students to earn both their high school diploma and an Associate of Arts degree when they graduated. Currently, Michael Ludwell serves as Superintendent of the New Hampshire School Administrative Unit #44, providing educational leadership to the communities of Northwood, Nottingham, and Stratford. During his leisure time, Michael Ludwell enjoys camping, astronomy, and reading. An avid outdoorsman, Michael Ludwell holds membership in the National Wildlife Association and the National Arbor Day Association. Michael Ludwell also supports the Boy Scouts of America’s Strategic Planning Effort.
Michael Ludwell's Companies
Michael Ludwell's Publications
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Desmond Morris' The Naked Ape: A Zoologist's Study of the Human Animal, Michael Ludwell
January, 2011
by Michael Ludwell
Like many educators, I have encountered a wide range of social behavior over the years, and I attribute my interest in Desmond Morris’ 1967 book, The Naked Ape: A Zoologist’s Study of the Human Animal, to these experiences. In The Naked Ape, Morris strips us of many of the masks we hide behind in daily life, revealing the talented and sometimes perplexing primates within. This has had a profound effect on my career, as it has helped to explain some of the actions that students exhibit. It has allowed me to have a better understanding of how and why they respond some of the time.
Born in 1928, Morris grew up with an interest in both primate ethnology and painting. Pursuing these subjects simultaneously, Morris achieved his first art exhibition in 1948. Morris earned his undergraduate degree in zoology from the University of Birmingham in 1951, and his 1954 thesis “Reproductive Behaviour of the Ten-spined Stickleback” earned him a doctorate from the University of Oxford. In 1957, Morris combined his love for zoology and art when he curated an exhibition of chimpanzee drawings and paintings at the London Institute of Contemporary Arts. At the show, abstractions by Congo the chimp gained critical attention; Picasso even famously hanged one on his studio wall. Although Congo died of tuberculosis in 1964 at the age 10, his art continues to draw admiration. Indeed, three of his paintings sold for more than $26,000 at auction in 2005.
Considered a significant contributor to the British surrealist movement, Morris notably displayed his art alongside Joan Miro. Serving as Curator of Mammals at the London Zoo until 1966, Morris quit out of frustration when the zoo took a direction he disagreed with. The Naked Ape was published the next year and became a bestseller for its revelatory look at all aspects of human behavior, from child-rearing to conflict. One example Morris points out is that when adults rock babies, they tend to rock at about the rate of a human heartbeat.
The book led many readers to reevaluate just what being human meant. Even 43 years after its initial publication, The Naked Ape continues to offer many insights into human behavior, turning actions we take for granted into something extraordinary. For this reason, I recommend it wholeheartedly.
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Michael Ludwell on Clive Cussler
February, 2011
Born in Illinois, Clive Cussler moved to California at a young age and quickly became enamored with outdoor exploration and mountaineering, becoming an Eagle Scout at the age of 14. After a brief period of study at Pasadena City College, Cussler enlisted in the United States Air Force and served during the Korean War.
After the war concluded, Cussler decided to forge a career in advertising and worked for some of the nation’s most prominent agencies, earning several international awards. Partly out of boredom, he first began writing in 1965 when his wife started working nights. During this period, Cussler developed his most famous character, Dirk Pitt, a marine engineer and government agent. Cussler engages readers with a blend of adventure and ingenious characters. His fans enjoy the outlandish plotlines and unrestrained action that drive his fiction.
Throughout his career, Cussler has had more than 17 novels reach The New York Times bestseller list. Cussler’s first major success, Raise the Titanic!, hit shelves in 1976. The third installment of his Dirk Pitt series, the novel follows the hero as he tries to raise the Titanic in order to retrieve a shipment of a rare mineral contained on the ship. He must recover the mineral supply in order to power a new, secret defense mechanism for the United States. Cussler published his 21st Pitt novel, Crescent Dawn, last year. In the last two decades, Cussler began writing several other series, including The Oregon Files, the NUMA Files, Fargo Adventures, and the Isaac Bell Tales. In the spring of 2011, Cussler plans to release two new novels, The Jungle (The Oregon Files) and The Kingdom (Fargo Adventures). Cussler also writes nonfiction works, such as The Sea Hunters, which earned him an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from the State University of New York Maritime College in 1997.
To learn more about Cussler’s history, watching the following video: Clive Cussler Biography
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