meridian

The Meridian International Institute
On Governance, Learning, Leadership and the Future

US Main Office:  41 Sutter Street, Suite 1039,  San Francisco CA 94104  .  (510) 526-5814 .  Fax 528-3989
Canada:  255 Albert Street, Suite 802, Ottawa  K1P 6A9 .  (613) 237-0143, x 310 .  Fax 235-8237

meridian  1.Great circle on the surface of the earth passing through the poles, used by navigators to plot present and future position.  2.  noon, midday, hence, the brightness of the sun at high noon.   3.  the summit.

governance  1. the act or process of governing (from the Greek,  kybernetes, helmsman or pilot, hence, governor)  2. the manner or method of governing.  3.  a system of governing.

When mariners began to explore new regions of the seemingly boundless and
shapeless ocean, they soon began to see that they had to develop concepts of navigation.  So they invented imaginary lines they named meridians, great circles on the surface of the earth passing from pole to pole.  Using this arbitrary concept -- which would today be called a socially constructed reality -- the early captains could calculate their present position and plot a future course.  Meridians also enabled them to make corrections in the course as their progress was affected by storms and darkness, hurricanes, and, occasionally, by a total absence of wind.  For centuries, many of the best minds on the planet worked at inventing navigational concepts, map projections, geographical databases and tools -- all to improve the precision and reliability of the courses they plotted into unexplored territories.

In a new era of globalization, exploring new challenges of governance, we find ourselves again in uncharted seas and threatened by chaotic storms. In recognition of this, the founding members of the Meridian institute chose our name from the concept that was so helpful to navigators of the past.  

Officers:
President:  Steven Rosell (rosell@viewpointlearning.com)
Vice-president and Treasurer:  Walter Truett Anderson (waltt@well.com)
Vice-president:  Robert E. Horn (hornbob@earthlink.net)
Secretary:  Hallock Hoffman (hallock_hoffman@mcimail.com)

Meridian Fellows 

Meridian programs:
Global Governance  Bioscience and Society  Electronic Democracy        
Governing in an Information Society    Canada -- Scenarios for the Future

Incorporated in Canada and in California.  U. S. tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3).