Lao Tzu, a Chinese philosopher, is considered to be the founder of Taoism. His birth and death dates are uncertain. According to legend, Lao Tzu was keeper of the archives at the imperial court. When he was eighty years old he set out for the western border of China, saddened and disillusioned that men were unwilling to follow the path to natural goodness. At the border, he was asked by a border guard to record his teachings before he left. These teachings were compiled into the Tao Te Ching (The Way and Its Power).
Gordon F. Holbein, Ph.D. is a Senior Lecturer in Strategy & Leadership at the Gatton College of Business and Economics at the University of Kentucky. He was born and raised near Syracuse, NY, and went to school in New Hampshire, New York and Pennsylvania, but much prefers Kentucky's milder climate! Gordon's education includes a Bachelor of Arts in Geography from Dartmouth College, an M.B.A. from Syracuse University, and a Ph.D. in Strategy and Leadership from The Pennsylvania State University. He has twelve years of work experience in bank management in New York, predominantly in branch management, product management and strategic planning. His consulting experience extends across organizations in the automotive, healthcare, financial services and technology industries, and he has worked with a variety of not-for-profit organizations as well. Dr. Holbein's academic career spans more than twenty-five years of university teaching at UK, Penn State, Syracuse University, and Northern Kentucky University. His main areas of expertise are Strategic Management, Leadership Development, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Global Management. Professor Holbein left the ranks of the University of Kentucky's research faculty in order to pursue a full-time teaching career in 2000, and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2007. He teaches in UK's undergraduate, graduate and executive education programs. Dr. Holbein has been recognized by the University of Kentucky's College of Education as a "Teacher Who Made A Difference" on three occasions, has been cited for excellence in teaching by Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society, Alpha Kappa Psi professional business fraternity and the UK Panhellenic Council, and in 2012 was named UK's best professor in the Kentucky Kernel's "Best Of UK" awards. He has also been awarded the Humana Corporation Teaching Innovation Grant three times. Gordon has been a featured speaker for the Emerging Leader Institute, the University of Kentucky Student Activities Board's "Final Word" symposium, and in the Delta Epsilon Iota Honor Society's guest lecturer series.
