Our Management Team
Since its inception in 1975, The Professional Development Institute PDI Inc. has been
a leading impartial source of strategic consulting in complex environments. PDI performance-improvement
products and cutting-edge
management training programs have been delivered throughout the USA, Canada, Mexico,
Brazil, Europe, Japan and China.
The hands-on experience of our management team spans a wide range of sectors
including R&D management, life sciences (health, nutrition, food inspection,
pharmaceuticals, biotechnology), software, telecommunication,
aerospace, chemicals, pulp & paper,
banking and insurance, communication
(broadcasting, advertizing, Internet), educational institutions,
defense and government.
Three managing partners lead PDI team of professionals:
Alain Paul Martin, Dr. J. André
Potworowski and
Dr. Norman G. Willis. All three have served
as senior executives of organizations dealing with complex global issues.
Dr. Willis is a distinguished scientist and a leading international authority in the prevention,
eradication and control of animal diseases. He has held prominent executive leadership positions,
notably as Executive Director of the Canadian Science Centre for Human and Animal Health, and
as President of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), in Paris (France),
where his accomplishments, subsequently, earned him the lifetime title of Honorary
President. Dr. Willis holds a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine and a PhD in Virology.
Alain Martin and André Potworowski are alumni of the Harvard Business School
and both have served as senior
executives in large companies and in advisory committees for The Prime Minister
of Canada. Both have taught management in Graduate Schools of Management and
both have a current background and experience in information technology (IT) and
entrepreneurship.
Alain Paul Martin
- President and CEO of PDI
- Pioneered the Proactive Thinking concept
- Created Harvard University Global System on strategy, risk and project management
- Faculty Member, University of Quebec - Graduate School of Management; led
Project Management Seminars in the Americas, Europe and Asia
- Clients: Boeing, Bombardier, Nortel, P&G, Cognos, IBM and governments
- Served as an executive member of the P.M. Committee - Government Reform
- Patent holder
- O.P.M. (Harvard Business School), entrepreneurship program (1997-99)
- Project Director: capital projects, software
- Negotiator: FAO, CIDA and large enterprises
André Potworowski, PhD
- PDI's Managing Partner, Science & Technology
- Leading North-American expert on R&D and Technology Management
- Adjunct Professsor in the EMBA program at the U. of Ottawa, Canada
- Senior executive with hi-tech companies
- Worked on the Prime Minister's National Advisory Board on Science & Technology
- Science writer for Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)
- Clients include pharmaceutical and hi-tech companies, NRC and other research institutes
(aerospace, renewable energy, biotech, water, hydrology, pesticides, computers), a patent
office and government agencies on both sides of the Atlantic.
- has written widely on R&D management
- Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry and Computer Science (U. of Toronto), M.B.A. (Harvard Business School)
Dr. Norman G. Willis, DVM, PhD
- PDI's Managing Partner, Research & Life Sciences
- Leading international authority in the prevention, eradication and control of animal diseases
- Executive Director of the Canadian Science Centre for Human and
Animal Health (joint appointment with Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency)
- President of the World Organization for
Animal Health (OIE) in Paris (France)
- Recent assignments: Senior Technical Advisor
to the Canadian Minister of Agriculture and Agrifood for BSE in Asia;
Program Consultant for the construction of United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) BSL-03 Animal Facility at Ames (Iowa); and Consultant
managing an international working group for the development of alternatives
to animal disposal
- Directed the design and construction of Canada's first
and only maximum biocontainment laboratory
- Director
General - Animal and Plant Health Directorate, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; responsible
for eight animal pathology and plant protection laboratories and the national animal
health and plant protection programs
- Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine (Ontario Veterinary College)
- Diploma in Bacteriology from the School of Hygiene, University of Toronto
- PhD in Virology from the School of Hygiene, University of Toronto
- Honorary President (Lifetime), L'Office International des Epizooties
(OIE)
- Member of the Executive Committee, United States Animal Health Association;
- Chairperson of the International Working Group on Animal Disposal Alternatives
(IWADA)
- Senior Statesman evaluating the International Forum on the International
Aspects of Accidental Release or Deliberate Use of Biological Agents Affecting Food and
Agriculture hosted by Texas A&M University Systems's Integrative Center for Homeland Security
Management Faculty
and Senior Partners
Alain Paul Martin
André Potworowski, PhD, MBA
Dr. Norman G. Willis, DVM, PhD
Senior Partner: Michael Rees, PhD, MBA,
A citizen of both Canada and the United Kingdom, Dr. Michael Rees is recognized throughout
Europe and North America for his cutting-edge expertise in
complex risk assessment and mitigation, quantitative methods, and strategic and financial modelling.
Greatly appreciated for his outstanding abilities in teaching, he combines a sound practical
experience with a distinguished education in
mathematics and business administration.
Dr. Rees currently also acts as European Director of Training and Consulting for Palisade Corporation.
He is an Invited lecturer on Real Options on the Wilmott Certificate in Quantitative Finance program.
His experience includes Vice President of J.P. Morgan in the UK, Principal at Mercer Management Consulting
in Germany and the UK, and Manager at Braxton Associates (now Deloitte and Touche) in Germany.
Michael holds a PhD in Mathematics from Oxford University, a Certificate in Quantitative
Finance (won Wilmott Award and graduated top of class) and an MBA with
Distinction from INSEAD in France. He is Associate Fellow of the Institute
of Mathematics and its Applications (AFIMA).
Dr. John Brian Morrissey, DVM, MBA
Dr. Morrissey has an outstanding track record in managing research teams and complex
issues, as Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM) of the Research Branch in the Department of Agriculture
and Agri-Food, and as ADM for Science at the Department of Fisheries & Oceans. In Agriculture
Canada, Dr. Morrissey was ADM for Food Production & Inspection Branch (now the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency), Director General of its Food Inspection Directorate, and Director of Canada's
Animal Health Division, where he was responsible for Canada's animal disease control programs. For
three years, Dr. Morrissey has lectured in the Executive MBA program of the University of Ottawa.
He was received as a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, London, England in 1965.
He holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Warwick University, England, and a
diploma in Public Policy and Public Administration from the University of Guelph, Ontario. He
was also awarded Canada's "Outstanding Achievement Award". This is the highest award given by
Canada to its public servants. Furthermore, Dr. Morrissey is a recipient of the French Ministry
of Agriculture's professional designation known as "Chevalier dans l'Ordre du Mérite Agricole"
for advancing Franco-Canadian cooperation in research.
Professor Pierre G. Bergeron
Professor Bergeron is an award-winning
author on finance who has made an immensely valuable contribution in the
advancement of management best practices, accountability and
good governance. He was Director in Corporate Finance at Domtar,
and led market analysis and capital project evaluation at
Imperial Oil. He also was a senior executive in several
departments of the Federal Government prior to pursuing a
distinguished career as a professor of management and associate
dean at the University of Ottawa.
Prof. Bergeron has written extensively on finance,
planning, budgeting, and capital budgeting for professional journals including
CAmagazine, CMA Magazine, CGA Magazine, Banker and ICB Review, the Financial
Post, and Optimum. He is the author of eight books including Finance for
Non-Financial Managers; Survivor's Guide to Finance; Modern Management in
Canada; Gestion dynamique: concepts, méthodes et applications; Planification,
budgétisation et gestion par objectifs; and Capital Expenditure Planning for
Growth and Profit. He is the recipient of the Walter J. MacDonald award for his
series of articles on capital budgeting decisions, which appeared in the
CAmagazine. He has assisted Industry Canada in designing a Web-based program to
help entrepreneurs raise risk funds from venture capital markets. He also
participated in producing The ABCs of Financial Performance Measures and
Benchmarks for Canada's Tourism Sector and Finding Funding for the Canadian
Tourism Commission. He also collaborated in the production of a series of videos
on finance. He created financial-planning framework to help managers gauge the
impact of business strategies, plans and budgets on financial statements, and to
make business decisions using cutting-edge yardsticks for time-value-of-money
investment.
Clients who sent participants to Professor Bergeron's finance
seminar include Alberta Natural Gas, Alcan Building Products, Atomic Energy of
Canada, Best Foods, Burroughs Welcome, Chevron, Dow Chemicals, Hawker Siddeley,
H.J. Heinz, Helen Curtis, Herman Miller, Hiram Walker & Sons, Keg
Restaurants, Kellogg, Kimberley Clark, Lever Bros., MacMillan Bloedel, Nestlé Rowntree,
Petro-Canada, Robin Hood Multifoods, West Coast Drugs and a
host of federal, state and provincial government agencies.
Prof. Bergeron
is a graduate of the University of Ottawa and the University of Western Ontario.
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