American Creativity Association
2007 International Conference

Conference Presentations and Presenters
2007 ACA International Conference
March 21 - 23, 2007 with pre-Conference Institutes - March 20, 2007
in Austin, Texas

KEYNOTE: Creative Leadership:  Skills that Drive Change

Gerard Puccio
Department  Chair and Professor
International Center for Studies in Creativity
Buffalo State,  Chase Hall 244, 1300 Elmwood Ave
Buffalo, NY 14222
716-878-6217
716-878-4040 Fax
pucciogj@buffalostate.edu
www.buffalostate.edu/centers/creativity

Dr. Gerard Puccio is the Department Chair and Professor at the International Center for Studies in Creativity, Buffalo State.  He has written more than 40 articles, chapters and books. In recognition of his outstanding work as a scholar, Gerard received the State University of New York Chancellor’s Recognition Award for Research Excellence. 

Gerard Puccio is an accomplished speaker and consultant; he has worked with major corporations, universities, and numerous school districts.  Some of his recent clients include Fisher-Price Brands, Sun Life Insurance, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, New Jersey Institute of Technology, and the Fashion Institute of Technology.  He has delivered creativity workshops and presentations around the world, in such countries as France, England, Spain, Italy, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Dominican Republic, and Canada.

Mary C. Murdock
Associate Professor
International Center for Studies in Creativity
244 Chase Hall
Buffalo State College
Buffalo NY 14222
(716)-878-6223 (P); (716)-878-4040 (F)
www.buffalostate.edu/centers/creativity                                                

Dr. Mary C. Murdock is an Associate Professor and graduate faculty member at the International Center for Studies in Creativity, Buffalo State College, Buffalo, NY.  She has been a guest lecturer on qualitative research in the Cognitive Psychology Unit of the University of Bergen and has taught Creative Problem Solving courses at international schools in Colombia, Dominican Republic, Tanzania, China, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Mary is an Advisory Board member of the American Creativity Association (ACA) and founder of the Buffalo-Niagara ACA chapter, a Colleague of the Creative Education Foundation, past editor of Celebrate Creativity, the National Association for Gifted Children’s Creativity Division newsletter and a Scenario Evaluator in the Future Problem Solving Program.

Her publications include three texts: Creative Problem Solving and Role Playing, co-authored with E. Paul Torrance; Creativity Assessment: Readings and Resources with Gerard Puccio; and Creative Leadership: Skills that Drive Change with Gerard Puccio and Marie Mance.  She is also co-editor of Understanding and Recognizing Creativity: The Emergence of a Discipline and Nurturing and Developing Creativity: The Emergence of a Discipline. 

Mary holds a BA in English from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, an M.Ed. in Gifted Education and a doctorate in Educational Psychology from the University of Georgia.

Keynote: Creative Leadership:  Skills that Drive Change

To a large degree creativity and leadership have been dealt with as separate topics; however, recent work in the field of leadership has begun to connect leadership to change.  Creativity can be thought of as a process for creating change.  The purpose of this presentation is to illustrate how the act of change creates an inextricable link between creativity and leadership.  During this presentation we will explore (1) why creative thinking is now considered a core leadership competence, particularly leadership aimed at bringing about change, and (2) how proven practices in the field of creativity can be used to promote creative thinking and thus facilitate leadership development.