The inspiration for this personal history comes from Richard Saul Wurman. In his book Information Anxiety, he notes that "curriculum vitae" is Latin for "course of life". The meaning of curriculum vitae has been altered until now we consider a CV to be an account of education, qualifications and occupational history -- and usually an over-inflated account as well.
Richard Wurman suggests a different approach for telling the world who you are. He says, "Describing yourself in understandable terms -- your life's work, your image of yourself, your priorities, what you would like people to think you do, what you do, and what you would like to do next -- is a telling slice of reality and aspiration. . . .We should all have a personal curriculum vitae or resume that attempts to describe who we really are and not who we are trying to pretend to be" (p. 213). This personal history is my attempt to write my "course of life".
The Missouri Years: 1952-1977
I was born in St. Louis, Missouri, USA on 30 September 1952 --18 minutes ahead of my twin brother, Douglas. I am the son of Howard and Marilyn Viehland and an older brother to my two sisters, Elaine (now Elaine Gillian) and Gail (now Gail Haynes). All of my immediate family still live in the St. Louis or Kansas City area; I am the only one who has strayed far away from the family home.
My boyhood days were spent on Viehland Dairy Farm, near the small city of St. Clair in Franklin County in Missouri. To view a map of Franklin County click here. Viehland Dairy Farm is near the 0 in "State Hwy 30".
I attended first grade in a two-room school house and the balance of my elementary (R-14 School District in Lonedell, Missouri) and secondary education (St. Clair High School -- Class of '70) was similarly rural.
Growing up on a farm was a life-defining experience for me. Back then, I sometimes saw the farm as boring and full of never-ending chores. However, as soon as I left I realised what a wonderful place it is and how blessed I was to grow up as a farmboy. Viehland Diary Farm remains a part of me in many ways -- in the middle of a hectic, chaotic world I have a centre of calm and inner peace that was placed there during those boyhood days on the farm. My ability to work long hours and my love of the outdoors are also legacies of the farm.
When I graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1975 my bachelor's degree said Psychology but in reality I majored in student government, including President of the Missouri Students Association in 1973-74. Since neither major qualified me for a job, I enrolled in graduate school.
This was the time that I discovered my enduring interest in entrepreneurial ventures. In early 1976, when disco music was at its peak, I created DiscoParty, Columbia, Missouri's first mobile DJ service that became very popular in Columbia's fraternity and sorority community. More stable, but less lucrative, income came from a part-time job in the University's Rhynsburger Theatre as a light technician and set builder during my undergraduate years.
The most significant event of my undergraduate career happened on my first week on campus -- I met Mary Beth Haas. We started as friends, then became lovers, lived together and married in September 1976. A few months later we left the state of our birth and moved to Boulder, Colorado.
The Colorado Years: 1977-1982
While in Colorado I finished my master's thesis (A Model for Outcome-Oriented Evaluation of Educational Programs) to complete the requirements for a Master of Arts in Higher Education Management from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1978. To put food on the table and pay the rent I sold Encyclopedia Britannia and, with Beth, we managed an apartment complex and then a large number of rented condominiums, including three of our own.
My first professional positions were opportunities for building my skills in writing, analysis and working with people. Initially I worked for John Minter Associates, a private consulting firm conducting financial analyses of tertiary education institutions.
In July 1979 I began work as a Research Analyst for the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, a regional (Western United States) consortium of state governments and universities. A lasting legacy of my WICHE years is that I developed my information filtering and harvesting skills -- the ability to track a thousand bits of information and be able to find and access that information weeks or months later.
On a personal level, the Colorado years are best remembered for the variety of outdoor activities Beth and I enjoyed at that time. During the Summer there was hiking (tramping) and camping in Rocky Mountain National Park and throughout the Rocky Mountain region. When Summer faded there were Winter sports, especially cross-country skiing. With the Colorado Mountain Club Beth and I climbed mountains and glaciers, slept in snow caves and igloos and played cards by candle light at the Club's cabin and in tents. Those were fun and adventuresome years.
The Arizona Years: 1982-1991
In 1982 I left the mountains of Colorado and moved to the deserts of Arizona to enrol in a doctoral program at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. I received my PhD in Higher Education Finance from the Center for the Study of Higher Education in 1989.
My doctoral dissertation, Nonresident Enrollment Demand in Public Higher Education, was an econometric study that estimated an elasticity of demand with respect to nonresident tuition (nonresident tuition is an extra fee charged to students from outside the local government area). This research showed that for every $100 increase in nonresident student fees enrolment declined by 1.7 percent. The research was considered important enough that it won a national award from the American Association of University Administrators.
A few months after I finished my PhD dissertation, Daniel William Viehland was born into this world, on 22 July 1989.
Something else was born in those Arizona years -- my long-term commitment to computers in my professional life. I applied for my doctoral studies in the same year that IBM introduced the PC. In my doctoral application I cited "become computer literate" as a minor objective of my studies. Ha! Little did I know that computers would become the defining force for my next two careers.
Like most personal computer enthusiasts in the 1980's, I started at the bottom of the ladder and climbed fast. Based on nothing more than a few weeks of experience with my own PC, the University of Arizona hired me to install the University administration's first five personal computers.
Within a year I left installation and training to others as I now had my own computer and was producing management reports for the Academic Vice President. My biggest problem was getting the data I needed from the University's mainframe computers, and I was not timid in my complaints. What happened? In a classical usurpation strategy, the University's computer centre created a position for someone to find solutions for demanding data users like me, and then they offered me the job.
So my first full-time employment in Information Systems was as a Senior Systems Planning Analyst in the Center for Computing and Information Technology at the University of Arizona. I worked with some great people to conduct a feasibility study for an executive information system, to develop a supercomputer resource allocation policy, to write a strategic plan for computing and telecommunications and to manage numerous small projects.
During this period I also got my first e-mail address (viehland@arizona.edu). Wow! Did that ever open this farmboy's world! This was the time when the Internet was electronic mail, Telnet, FTP (file transport protocol) and little else. Soon I was organising national electronic mailing lists to share information between colleagues and writing guides to teach them how to use this wonderful new resource. I was one of the first at the University of Arizona to use Gopher and, later, I became one of the first New Zealanders to download a browser and access the World Wide Web. I can't say I was there at the birth of the Internet, but I certainly was there when it started taking off.
The Grand Adventure in New Zealand: 1991-1995
In 1991 our family left the United States and moved to New Zealand. "Why did you move to New Zealand?" is one of my life's FAQ (frequently asked question).
First, for personal reasons. I did not know it at the time, but the Kiwis have a name for it -- the Big OE (overseas experience). Many, many New Zealanders leave their small country at some point in their lives to spend a few years living and traveling abroad. After almost four decades of American culture I wanted to experience life in a different country and New Zealand, a beautiful country with friendly people, provided just the sort of opportunity I was looking for.
Second, for professional reasons. I wanted to begin an academic career in Information Systems, but my PhD was in Higher Education Finance. Few US universities would consider my application for IS positions, but New Zealand universities were looking for PhD-qualified staff with industry experience, and so my application was welcomed by several universities.
I accepted an appointment as Senior Lecturer in the Department of Information Systems at Massey University and on 11 October 1991 Beth, Daniel and I embarked on "the Grand Adventure" by moving to New Zealand. My first two years in New Zealand were at Massey's Palmerston North campus. In early 1994 I accepted the opportunity to lead the development of the Information Systems Department at Massey's new Albany campus, located on Auckland's North Shore. It was during this time -- August 1994 -- that I created my personal Web site, and I have had a Web presence ever since.
In December 1994 I became a New Zealand citizen. I now tell my students that I am American by birth and a New Zealander by choice, a proud citizen of both countries.
One of the few things in my life that didn't work out so well was my marriage. The reasons for the breakup of our marriage are varied. Basically over the years Beth and I had grown apart and we never took the time or made the effort to grow back together. We divorced in April 1995 after almost 20 years of marriage. Both of us are happy with our new lives and we remain friends and proud parents.
Beth returned to Tucson, Arizona and still lives there. Daniel is now a student at the University of Montana in Missoula.
The New Zealand Years: 1995-present
While "the grand adventure" continues in many respects, I can no longer call this a Big OE because I am as happily settled in New Zealand as I ever was in Colorado or Arizona.
After Beth and Daniel returned to the States work became my consuming passion. In the late 1990's and 2000 I traveled New Zealand and the world, enthusiastically preaching the gospel of the Internet, electronic commerce and e-business in academic and professional courses, conferences and workshops (see the impressive list in my archival CV). It was fun to ride this dot-com wave, and it was professionally and financially rewarding as well. Now, in the sixth decade of my life, I am working less, but I anticipate my work will always be an important part of who I am.
When I am not working I enjoy traveling, reading and tramping. I have traveled extensively in America, Australia and New Zealand. I have visited France and England and quite a few Asian and South Pacific countries, but I am always looking for opportunities to travel more. While traveling I like to read, especially fiction, and eat in revolving restaurants. I also like to get out and among the people of the places I travel -- I don't do tour groups and usually I stay in hostels and homes (e.g., I am a member of globalfreeloaders.com). When I have any significant spare time in New Zealand I go tramping. I have completed seven of New Zealand's Great Walks and quite a few other major New Zealand tracks.
Although I love living in New Zealand, I also enjoy getting out to live in other parts of the world. During July-December 2001 I returned home to Missouri as a Visiting Professor in the Department of Information Systems at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. My academic sabbatical year continued during January-June 2002 while I was at the City University of Hong Kong. The Department of Information Systems at CityU was a wonderful place to work and Hong Kong was an exciting place to live and a useful base for trips to Vietnam and China. During July-December 2003 I took a personal sabbatical to be with Daniel, but I was also a Visiting Professor in the MIS Department at the University of Arizona. In July-August 2007 I was Visiting Professor in the Centre for Electronic Business at San Francisco State University.
The most recent significant event in my life has been my love for my partner, Judith Hoek. Jude and I met in April 2004 and we rapidly became friends, then lovers. In January 2008 we became engaged to be married, and we are now waiting for the river of life to take us to our wedding date. Jude lives in Takapuna, but we spend many weekday nights and every weekend in each other's lives. We enjoy getaway weekends, dancing, cuddling on the sofa watching a movie, American Club events, listening to music, cooking for each other, tramping and so much more. We are planning a long and happy future together.
The Road Ahead
What lies ahead? What happens next? How will this history end? No one can know, but if history is the pattern of the future, some guesses can be made.
I anticipate I will have at least one more career (my fourth) ahead of me. That career will probably have something to do with travel, tertiary education, the Internet or all of the above.
I hope to see more of the world, both the wild and rugged parts in South America, Africa, Alaska and Asia, and the more civilised and cultured countries of Europe. If my finances and lifespan permit it, a bi-hemispherical lifestyle in New Zealand and on the Viehland Family Farm is one of my dreams.
I expect Jude, Daniel, my family and my friends, all over the world, to be a part of my journey down the road ahead, wherever it may lead.
I hope you have enjoyed this personal history. Maybe just as Wurman inspired me to write it, you will write one about yourself. If you do I would like to hear about it and read it. See you on the Net.........
This page was last updated on 3 January 2010.
Please send comments, dead links, questions, etc to d.viehland@massey.ac.nz
