Volpe Center: Information Resources - Volpe Journal Summer 2000

Volpe Journal Summer 2000

Previous Section | Contents | Next Section

Peter Manning

Bridging Many Worlds

Peter Manning: A Volpe Center Policy Analyst pushes the boundaries of transportation research

As a senior policy analyst at the Volpe Center, Peter Manning often works on issues related to the concepts of learning and international development. In addition to his Volpe endeavors, this involves teaching both in overseas and domestic situations. For Peter, the fields of learning and international development are not work, but interests that he constantly pursues even as part of his relaxation time.

In addition to his full-time position at the Volpe Center, Peter also teaches here in America at a school 1,400 miles away from where he lives. That is, when he is in this country. Over the past few years, Peter has taken several leaves of absence from his job at the Volpe Center. He was in Malaysia in Spring 1999 on his second Fulbright Fellowship; his first involved teaching at the University of Szeged in Hungary six years before. In addition, there is an ongoing relationship with the Baltic States that involves short-term courses and guest lectures at institutions like the Estonian Business School that granted him an honorary doctorate in 1998.

While Peter goes to these countries to share his expertise in business and public policy, he explains that "we need to realize that the transitioning world is not necessarily going to do things 'our way.' We need to figure out what we have that can be adapted to fit their needs."

Peter feels comfortable in many different environments and circumstances. When he taught at the Graduate School of Business at Universiti Utara, Malaysia, he was the only Westerner, the only Christian, and the only American on the campus. Living this way, says Peter, caused him to stretch his personal awareness, along with the political, social, and cultural awareness that comes from being in a place so far removed from his American existence.

Peter came to the Volpe Center in 1996. He became familiar with the Center in 1995 while on a short-term assignment as a Senior Development Executive for the Combined Federal Campaign. The Volpe Center was the lead agency on that year's effort for the Greater Boston Federal Executive Board.

At that point, he had just completed an assignment as the Board's Executive Director. For the previous 20 years, he had been a Senior Management Analyst for the US Department of Agriculture working throughout the United States and in international settings, so he was well-versed in various aspects of federal policy making.

In his current role of Management and Policy Analyst in the Transportation Strategic Planning and Analysis Office, Peter works on a variety of projects to support the Volpe Center's Director. These include facilitating meetings between outside transportation experts and Volpe staff; supporting the "Spirit of Innovation in Transportation" Conference held in June 1999 at the Center; and working on a series of strategic planning documents. The diversity of his assignments is one of the aspects that he likes about his work at the Volpe Center.

His position affords the opportunity to think about the big picture for the Volpe Center in relation to learning areas such as education, research, and technology transfer. Where in the scheme of transportation, technology innovation, and policy research and development should Volpe be situated? Peter envisions the Volpe Center as "a venture capitalist center for ideas" where intellectual resources are the currency. He observes that Volpe must continue to embrace a larger vision of "learning" in order to transcend traditional education options. The resulting continuous change will encompass new training and technology alternatives. His broad view of transportation learning policy goes beyond specific public concerns--such as the impact of a specific mode's training program--to include broader concerns such as the overall impact of transportation education efforts on different stakeholders.

Peter envisions the Volpe Center as "a venture capitalist center for ideas" where intellectual resources are the currency.

The range might include the elementary student (who might not have thought about transportation as an issue, much less a career) to the graduate student (who is actively involved in research) to the mid-career professional (who realizes that he/she needs to update a skills base). The Volpe Center is in a position not just to support the public and private sectors with finding answers but just as important, to discover the right questions. To do this, Volpe needs an innovative staff that will challenge the system; maintain contacts with important stakeholders, organizations, and public agencies; and take advantage of the universities and high-tech companies in the greater Boston area.

Peter brings a unique combination of education and professional background to bear on his current position at Volpe as well as in his teaching responsibilities. While completing his doctorate in public policy at Tufts University, he realized he also needed the skill set from a business education, so he took a year off from Tufts to get a master's in business administration from Boston University. As a result, he provides both his job and his students with the blend of public policy and business skills that he feels are vital for decision making and leadership. "When I teach public policy I want my students to think like business people and when teaching in a business setting, I want my students to broaden their perspective to include public sector concerns," he explains. "When I am in a public policy setting, I can utilize business practices and techniques to bring about change and when I am in a business setting, I can look beyond the profit motive."

In teaching college and graduate-level courses in public policy and business, Peter uses innovative teaching techniques. His students in Malaysia, Hungary, and the Baltics are intrigued by Peter's classroom methods, which are quite different from the traditional lecture mode of teaching to which they are accustomed. Peter has the students work in teams, runs classes using case studies, and requires participation from everyone. Even in this country, Peter's teaching techniques are unique. For both his Introduction to Public Policy and his Organizational Theory courses, he assigns a Shakespeare play as required reading. This past semester, it was King Lear. "The play shows great insight into leadership and the consequences when leaders don't lead," he explains.

Volpe is in a position not just to support the public and private sectors with finding answers but just as important, to discover the right questions.

How does someone who loves being in a classroom connecting with his students make the transition to being an online distance professor? Currently, at Florida Gulf Coast University (the newest branch of the University of Florida system), Peter is teaching two distance courses. He began the semester by flying down to Florida over a long weekend to meet the students. Peter now communicates online by sending materials and weekly status reports to the whole class as well as progress reports to individual students. Not only are the students in touch with him via his home e-mail, but he also gives them both his home and weekend phone numbers.

Two evenings a week, his class uses chat rooms for group discussions. Students have to submit their analysis of the case studies online and then comment on each other's work.

Peter's academic endeavors enhance his work at the Volpe Center as well as his community service, such as his current work with his town government's citizens services committee. In developing multiple career activities, he broadens his perspective and remains receptive to change as well as to new ideas. At the same time, it helps to build a unique set of contacts. These additional benefits are crucial for anyone involved in preparing strategic plans and public policy options.

For Peter, strategic planning is an important key to the future, and understanding how this plays out in various cultures is vital. Transitioning economies lack resources such as a technology infrastructure and fully developed libraries, as well as a history of performing analysis for planning purposes. Meanwhile in this country, the revolution in information technology has changed the set of constructs and ideals that are used to guide planning. For creative thinkers such as Peter Manning, these new challenges are opportunities to explore new ideas and influence the new concepts that are taking hold. The challenge for those interested in learning, especially in the field of transportation, is to bridge the divergent gaps between the developed and transitioning worlds. The result will enhance the opportunities for all those who are interested in building new learning options as we move into the 21st Century.

Return to Top