Stowe Becomes First
With Polish Doctorate

Stowe successfully defended his dissertation--"The Implications of Foreign Financial Institutions on Poland's Emerging Entrepreneurial Economy"--on January 21.

Warsaw University is a leading research institution in Central Europe with over 56,000 students and is Poland's largest institution of higher education.

Stowe, who is also a captain (equivalent to an army colonel) in the Naval Reserve, began his doctoral studies after completing a tour of active duty as the senior military representative to the Republic of Poland.

Stowe's team helped to organize over 100 meetings of U.S. and Polish military experts which helped lay the groundwork for Partnership for Peace and Poland's entry into NATO.

U.S. Ambassador to Poland, Nicholas Rey, upon learning that Stowe teaches entrepreneurship, asked him to lecture on free enterprise in addition to his military responsibilities.

"The U. S. role is not to prescribe a particular economic system," said Stowe, "but to share ideas on what we have learned about capitalism. It will be up to the leadership of transition countries to determine what policies best fit their reality."

Stowe, who has a BA from Vanderbilt University, an MBA from the University of Dallas, and a Doctor of Jurisprudence Degree from the University of Houston, made more than 18 presentations at universities in Warsaw, Gdansk, Krakow, Lodz and other Polish cities.

The U.S. military liaison team had an office in the Polish Ministry of Defense where Stowe worked with the late Vice Minister of Defense Mileski and Brigadier General Wozniak, head of Foreign Military Relations.

His dissertation defense, which was open to the public, was held at the Warsaw University School of Management.

Stowe's mentor, Professor Stefan Kwiatkowski, author of 12 books and more than 150 articles, is considered to be the "Peter Drucker" of Poland. Kwiatkowski is president of Forum, an organization which accredits business programs (similar to the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business, which accredited Sam Houston's College of Business Administration).

Stowe's defense committee chairman was Professor Andrzej Kozminski, who is also president of the Academy of Entrepreneurship and Management, which was Poland's first private institution of higher education to offer an American MBA program. One reviewer was Andrzej Sopocho, former minister of the Consumer Protection Agency and former Chairman of the National Bank Association of Poland.

Under Polish law, the second reviewer must be from a different institution. That reviewer, Professor Marek Ratajcak, is a director of the Academy of Economics in Poznan, Poland.

Stowe's dissertation committee consisted of 11 other distinguished Polish scholars. His Ph.D was voted on by a Faculty Council of over 20 tenured professors.

In a relatively rare occurrence according to Polish traditions, Stowe's defense received unanimous approval.

"My dissertation covered the period May 1994 to June 1995," said Stowe. "Its findings included the suggestion that competition from foreign financial institutions had a positive role in improving Poland's financial services sector.

"Another key finding was that Poland is developing a pool of bank personnel who have a varied exposure to German, American, Austrian and other international institutions that have operations or investments in Poland," he said.

"The Polish economy will benefit from that pool of experienced bankers familiar with the different systems throughout Europe as the nation has set a goal of joining the European Union."

In addition to teaching entrepreneurship at Sam Houston State University, Stowe teaches law courses including International Business Law, Human Resources Management Law, and commercial law courses.

In order to complete degree requirements, Stowe made frequent trips to Poland to conduct research for his dissertation. In January 1997 he was called back to active duty and sent to the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, where he served as Public Affairs Officer.

The Marshall Center hosts high level conferences--one of which was conducted for members of the Polish Sejm, or parliament, last January. Stowe used his active duty assignment as an opportunity to visit Poland on weekends to complete his dissertation.

In November 1997 Stowe was appointed director, Office of International Programs, a new half time administrative position at Sam Houston State University.

Media Contact: Frank Krystyniak
Feb. 17, 1998