Cogswell Polytechnical College: Dean, Special Advisor to the President, Department

Chair, Professor, Development Director, and Distinguished Lecturer 1999 – 2005

Howard Lieberman was invited to Cogswell Polytechnical in the heart of Silicon Valley, in 1999 to teach acoustics as a physics lecturer, just as the dotcom meltdown was occurring. Howard took a sabbatical from the overheated Silicon Valley industrial sector after witnessing the funding of many questionable business models while on the board of the Venture Capital Task Force.  

Howard moved from adjunct professor to department chair and Dean of External Affairs within four years  in part due to creating popular programs in the Fusion of Art and Engineering known as Aesthetic Engineering and Innovation Management both of which he justified to WASC. WASC is the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, one of six official academic bodies responsible for the accreditation of public and private universities, colleges, secondary and elementary schools in the United States and foreign institutions of American origin, and is the same accreditation agency that accredits Stanford University and UC Berkeley.

Aesthetic Engineering combined the emotional relevance of the arts, with the technical robustness of engineering. Innovation Managment added the requirement that there be a viable business model. In developing the program  Mr. Lieberman created and taught courses in Innovation Project Management that integrated strong collaboration components.

As the school official on the stage at graduation handing out the first aesthetic engineering degrees to his students, Mr. Lieberman experienced the most exciting product launch he ever shipped.

Howard acted as a force of convergence to this technical institution founded in 1887, by combining technical, business and arts programs into two new degree programs; Innovation Management and Aesthetic Engineering. The Innovation Management program evolved into an MBA program in Entrepreneurship and Innovation which is now the dominant program the school is known for.

Mr. Lieberman also led the rebranding of Cogswell Polytechnical College as the Fusion or Art and Engineering including the rewriting of the entire catalog, creation of new logo and online presence.