This year for the very first time in twelve years, the Bauccio Lecture Series, presented by the Franz Center for Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, has included, a faculty member from the University of Portland, Dr. Mark Meckler. The lecture series brings together leading visionaries from across the country, to share their views, experiences and inspiring stories with our students.
Dr. Mark Meckler is an associate professor of strategy and leadership at the University of Portland, and co-founder and VP of strategy and curriculum at CraftingAStrategy.com. He has lived, served and traveled all over the world. Prior to completing his Ph.D. in Management, Dr. Meckler is a classically trained saucier, a former chef, and food and beverage manager. Dr. Meckler also worked in investment banking at Baring Securities in New York City as a closed-end fund analyst, before its infamous demise. He began his teaching career at Rockland Community College in New York State where he worked for 16 years as an assistant and associate professor throughout his doctoral program. 
Dr. Meckler writes extensively for craftingastrategy.com and has published journal articles related to strategic management, truth-telling, controlled innovation, human motivation, and human culture networks. Dr. Meckler is known as a “Renaissance Man” among his colleagues and friends because of his numerous hobbies and craft skills.
Dr. Meckler’s lecture was entitled, “How great leaders use elegance and jazz to inspire organized innovation”. He started with the importance of the WHY in leadership. Knowing why an organization exists gives it direction and is one of the main keys to success. He said that he realized knowing why an organization exists, keeping the message simple, giving direction to employees to do only the things that impacted the ‘why’, through the expertise of one’s craft, balance of work and play, and rhythm that keeps things flowing smoothly, are all essentials that leaders need to understand.
In a nutshell, Dr. Meckler said, “Great leaders direct elegant organizations that inspire others to participate, coordinate and achieve something great and experience the joy of their craft.”
We are extremely fortunate to have Dr. Meckler as part of our faculty in the Pamplin School of Business. His knowledge, experience and expertise in varied fields bring a robust and invaluable understanding of business to our students.