Covering the business of education and training

I came in on the tail end of the baby boom behind two older brothers and two older sisters, 3 of which were WWII babies.  Meaning, I am old enough to have been around the block a few times, but young enough to have a few more trips left in me. My name is Bill Belew

I first went to Asia on Uncle Sam's dime. After nearly 5 years in the Navy where I served as Communications Officer and then eventually as an Intelligence Officer for a Destroyer Squadron ( I could tell you some secrets, but then I'd have to kill you) I settled in Japan and lived there for almost 20 years.

While there I started and ran a for-profit language school for Japanese - ECS is the name of the company. It grew to five branches in Japan and one on the west coast of the US. I have sold all but one of the branches. I keep one in Japan to maintain my ties there.

I moved back to the states about 5 years ago and now live in the Bay Area of San Jose (Yes, I know the way.) I have been teaching f2f at a for-profit vocational school and online for the largest for-profit university in the world for about three years.

I taught in a traditional university in Japan and in Russia for almost 20 years. In the states I have taught at the graduate school level - a teacher's training university in upstate New York and at the junior college level in the Houston, TX JC district - both traditional university and college systems.

My wife is 'made in China' and holds an MBA from a California State University.

I have two boys. The older one, Benjamin, is an award winning professional classical pianist in Japan. The younger one, Micah, is a US National Swim Champion. They both attended school through high school and jr. high school, respectively, in Japan before attending traditional colleges in the US.

I used to run triathlons and ultramarathons. I could also be seen hanging off the side of a mountain...or making my way up it as a rock climber. Now I am on a marathon trip as I try to climb back into shape.

In my free time (what free time?) I write non-fiction short stories. You can see some of them at WCBELEW .

I also maintain two other blogs here at KnowMoreMedia. They are PanAsianBiz - about business in Asian Countries and AManWalksIntoAnOffice - a bunch of silly jokes.

I will have yet another blog and moderate a forum at a very large Chinese web site in the near future. More on that later.

I look forward to telling you what I know about the business of education. I have been an educator for many years. I am also a businessman. I know the business of education from an owner's perspective and from the position of faculty and from the vantage point of several countries.

I don't know everthing, but I do know some things. As always, I can learn, too. I welcome feedback and interaction in hopes that all of us can understand the for-profit business of education better.

Bill