About Us

​The Center for Exploratory Studies (CES)  - a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation - was founded in 1981 by Herman Matthews. He has served as the Center's Executive Director since its inception. After leaving academia a few years earlier to explore both the intellectual and experiential aspects of life, Herman founded the Center as an organization engaged in creating programs, workshops, seminars and experiences that facilitate a fuller participation in the life process. Over the years, programs, studies and projects developed under the auspices of CES have been diverse in nature and have been designed to enhance the learning process for both children and adults.

Bob Klein, Liz Mealy and George Sudarshan joined Herman in these ongoing explorations and are on the Board of Directors for the Center for Exploratory Studies. They have diverse backgrounds and experience (see below) and the Center has facilitated many different programs (see representative programs) workshops and seminars. 

Bob Kline, Ph.D. -- Bob's academic background is in English and Education, with particular interest in Rhetoric and Hermeneutics. He has published extensively (over 80 articles, chapters in monographs, patents, and books). He coordinated field internships for seven colleges (eleven departments) of the University of Texas. In 1987, Bob left academia and has since been an independent consultant, project manager, COO and CEO for several companies, primarily in the fields of materials science and information systems. He continues to research, speak on, and write about the language and nature of persuasion in Biblical times (B.C. 150 through A.D. 225). In 2000, he created Global Relief Resources, a nonprofit corporation dedicated to disaster relief technologies and strategies.

Herman Matthews, Ph.D. -- Herman's academic background is in experimental Physics. He has been on the Faculty of Oklahoma State University, Stanford University, Florida Atlantic University and the University of Texas, teaching and doing research in Physics and Education. Besides his regular academic work, he was the founding University Ombudsman at Florida Atlantic University and a founding Faculty Consultant, Center for Teaching Effectiveness at the University of Texas. In 1978, Herman left academia and founded the Center for Exploratory Studies and HMA. Through these he has worked with a wide variety of individuals, organizations and corporations. He has designed and facilitated several hundred workshops in Effective Communication; Stress Management; Organizational Design and Development; Team Building and Team Development; Consensus Building and other Professional and Personal Development Programs and has produced videos in diverse areas (team and personal development, training, product demonstration, music, etc.)  

Liz Mealy, Ph. D. -- Liz’s academic background is in Health Sciences (Epidemiology). She was a member of NASA's Skylab Medical Team and the Director of the Cardiopulmonary Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center. In that position, Liz helped design and test fitness and space health systems that were used in the initial manned space programs. These Skylab medical experiment are displayed at the Smithsonian Institute, Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C. After leaving NASA, she applied her experience and expertise in Epidemiology to the issues of criminal behavior and created programs for probationers. These included the development of two 70-bed residential substance abuse treatment centers for felony probationers in Texas and an on-line educational program. The programs in community corrections and human performance are recognized by the National Institute of Corrections and the Department of Defense as being one of the Outstanding Drug Interdiction Programs in the Country. The on-line educational program is used by thousands of probationers. In 1995 Liz formed Experiential Challenge Programs to build facilities and design and facilitate programs in experiential learning and team development.          
 
George Sudarshan, Ph.D. -- George's academic background is in theoretical Physics, with particular interest in quantum mechanics and elementary particles. He is Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of Texas where he founded the Center for Particle Physics. George has published extensively (over 300 articles, chapters in monographs and books), presented over 100 invited papers, chaired 40 doctorates and is a Fellow in the American Physical Society, the Indian National Science Academy, the European Physical Society, the Academy for the Philosophy of Science, the Third World Academy and the Indian Academy of Science. He is recognized internationally for his work in Physics and has received many awards and honors including 7 honorary degrees and the First Prize in Physics of the Third World Academy (commonly called the third world Nobel Prize). George is also widely recognized for his work in bridging disciplines and exploring the edges of knowledge. His latest Book Doubt and Certainty is a lively, readable book about what is known, what is unknown and what is unknowable.

If you are interested in initiating a program or facilitation of a workshop or seminar or using the resources of the Center, please contact the Center for Exploratory Studies at [email protected].