Click Here to read Tom's blog.

Tom Watkins, CEO of  TDW & Associates, has been in China in recent weeks working on creating educational connections between Michigan and the Asian nation. While there, Tom has been writing a blog on his travels and meetings. He was also appointed Special Consultant to  the China Art and Culture Institute in Beijing recently.

About the writer: Tom Watkins is a global business and education consultant with special interest in China.  He served as Michigan's State Superintendent of Schools from 2001 to 2005 and Michigan's mental health director under Gov. Jim Blanchard from 1986 to 1990. He previously ran a business organization in Florida.

Tom has been a champion for building business and educational bridges between China and Michigan for years. While serving as state school superintendent in 2006, he signed a sister agreement with schools in Tianjin. He is also an honorary professor at Mianyang University in China, and an honorary board  member of the Chinese Association of Greater Detroit. On this recent trip he was appointed a "special consultant" to China Art and Culture Institute in Beijing by its president, Mr Sheng for his work building cultural, business and educational ties between the two countries.

Tom was instrumental and served as China business and education consultant to WWJ-TV's breakthrough special TV series "Building Bridges: From the Great Lakes to the Great Wall." Click Here to watch the show online. He regularly appears on local radio and television programs talking about business and education issues. Tom is a prolific writer whose work appears in the Detroit Free Press, The Detroit News, The Michigan Chronicle, The Observer and Eccentric, the Oakland Press, The Ann Arbor News, the Grand Rapids Press, The Midland DAily News, The Dearborn Press and Guide, Oakland Business Review,EdNews, as well as other newspapers and national education publications.

Email Tom