Barbara Bowen

"The number of people that can do the type of work that Barbara Bowen does to capture the knowledge of an expert or team, at the level that she does it, can be counted with one hand." Alberto Canas, Assoc. Director, Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC)

"Thanks again for putting the speech together. It got a great reception from the audience...Your work in making this a success is greatly appreciated."

John Sculley, former Pres. & CEO/Apple Computer, Inc.
"Barbara's taste in selecting projects to fund was impeccable. Above all else, I found Barbara to be a person of the highest integrity -- far too rare a quality amidst the personalities and politics and ethical compromises of corporate America.”Mark Miller, President & Exeutive Director, THe Miller Institute for Learning with Technology, worked directly with Barbara at Apple

"You are really onto something powerful...it was a fabulous experience for our board." Kris Mayer,
KL Mayer Consulting Group

Barbara Bowen, PhD, Managing Director

Educational Leader & Innovator

Dr. Barbara Bowen directed Apple Computer Inc.'s Education Foundation (AEF) and founded and managed Apple's External Research program. As Director of the Education Foundation, she created program directions envisioning the use of computer's as "Wheels for the Mind."

As manager of External Research she gained a reputation for knowing “where the good ideas and people are” and for creating highly-effective research partnerships with leading university researchers.

Technology Transfer & Partnership Building

These research partnerships generated important contributions to Apple's technology portfolio and provided a cost-effective way to identify and hire new talent. Bowen's strategy of providing unrestricted graduate fellowships substantially reduced Apple's cost of recruiting researchers and engineers.

Barbara's support of advanced research in cognitive and learning technologies contributed to building and maintaining Apple’s leadership in the education market.

Selected Professional Awards & Recognition

Leadership America Signature Award
Ten-Year Outstanding Contribution Award from Apple Computer, Inc.
National Task Force on Educational Technology, appointed by former Secretary of Education, Terrell Bell
National Science Foundation (NSF): Advisory Boards in Computing & Information Science, and Science Education
Who’s Who of American Women

Special Expertise

Dr. Bowen is an expert in Concept Map-based knowledge elicitation, a highly-effective facilitation method designed to unlock the tacit knowledge of individuals and teams. She

She is a former doctoral student of Prof. Joseph D. Novak, who developed Concept Mapping. Prof. Novak is an advisor to Sound Knowledge Strategies.

Listen to a podcast interview with Barbara.

Barbara enjoys working with people from diverse backgrounds and was a founding member of the Diversity Task Force for Apple’s R&D division. She is known for "bringing people together" and was a lead organizer of several important community-building initiatives in Port Townsend, WA - including a two-day event celebrating the leadership of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. nad "Heart-to-Heart: Vietnam Vets in Community."

Professional Presentations on Concept Mapping and Knowledge Modeling

"Fostering Employee Effectiveness." Invited presentation to Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce's "Focus On" series. May 24, 2007.
“Concept Mapping to Support Collaborative Knowledge Building”, E/merge2006, a two-week virtual conference for educators and researchers in southern Africa. July 10-21, 2006.
“Concept Mapping for Performance Enhancement,” & “Introduction to Concept Mapping.” Invited presentations to Mid-Atlantic Nuclear Training Group Conference, Gettysburg, PA. June 6-9, 2006.
The Association of Knowledge Work (AOK), an online global forum of knowledge management professionals. March, 2006. Bowen was featured by Denham Grey in his forum on social networking and collaboration technologies.

Selected Publications

Bowen, B. Concept Maps: A Tool for Representing and Sharing Expert Knowledge. IHLink: Oct., 2007, online journal of Institute for Human Resources Information Management.

Bowen, B., Scardamalia, M., and Bereiter, C. "Computer Supported Intentional Learning Environments.” Thinkwork: Working, Learning and Managing in a Computer Interactive Society. Ed. F. Phillips. Englewood, NJ: Praeger. 225-237. 1992.

Bowen, B.L. (2006) Concept Maps to Facilitate Meaningful Learning in a Business Seminar, Proceedings of the 2nd Annual International Conference on Concept Mapping, San Jose, Costa Rica, 2006.

Bowen, B. L. (2006) Concept Maps to Facilitate Transparent Governance, Proceedings of the 2nd Annual International Conference on Concept Mapping, San Jose, Costa Rica, 2006.

Bowen, B. (Ed.) (1992). Design for Learning. Cupertino. Apple Computer, Inc. 1990.

Professional Memberships

Institute of Management Consulting (IMC)
Apple Alumni
Association of Knowledge Work (AOK), online global forum of knowledge management professionals
Cornell Entrepreneurial Network (CEN)