Michael Fullan was born in Toronto, Ontario, the eldest of 7 hockey-playing boys, Michael Fullan turned in his skates for books at the age of 18 and slowly worked his way into academia earning a Ph.D in Sociology in 1969. He now spends his time linking practice to theory, rather than the other way around, working with groups at all levels of the system on the moral purpose of raising the bar and closing the gap of school achievement for all children.
Michael Fullan is currently Professor Emeritus at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto [1], and is Special Adviser on Education[2] to Dalton McGuinty, the Premier of Ontario. He holds Honorary Doctorates from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and from Nipissing University in Canada.
Fullan served as Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Toronto from 1988 to 2003, leading two major organizational transformations, including a merger of two large schools of education. He is currently working as adviser and consultant on several major education reform initiatives around the world.
Drawing from both the public and private sectors, Fullan bases his work on research and practice. He has written several best sellers on leadership and change that have been translated into many languages. His recent books are: The Six Secrets of Change (JosseyBass)[3], 'Motion Leadership: The Skinny on Becoming Change Savvy' (Corwin Press)[4], and 'All Systems Go' (Corwin Press)[5] which focuses on whole system reform.
Michael recently partnered with the School Improvement Network (PD360) and Corwin Press to produce 'Motion Leadership: The Skinny on Becoming Change Savvy'[6], an online video based learning program on how leaders get positive movement at the individual, school and system levels.