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Founder
Jean Graef, founder of The Montague Institute, has been developing and conducting seminars
about cutting edge information technology since the early 1980's, when she introduced the mysteries of disk
accessing and indexing to the sales staff of CL Systems, a pioneer
in automated library systems. She then moved on to demonstrate
the use of microcomputers in college science teaching.
Since 1991 her focus has been how to apply traditional techniques of journalism and library science to a business environment dominated by the Internet.
"Our
involvement with the Internet began as an R&D project in my
area circa 1992. After establishing accounts with Delphi, the
worlds first ISP, I brought Jean Graef in to teach classes in
using the Internet for business purposes.
Trust me, we were way ahead of the curve. The first graphical
Internet browser, Mosaic, didn't exist yet. Jean provided our
initial introduction to it sometime in '93. I trust Jean's ability
to spot emerging trends in information and knowledge management."
Architecture
Practice Leader, Fortune 1000 insurance company
Background Jean can best be characterized as a boundary spanner between the
engineers that produce new information technology, the entrepreneurs that
fund it, the information professionals that organize it, and the decision
makers that use it. Throughout her career she has helped:
business owners and managers identify new opportunities
in information technology;
hardware and software development teams understand
and document user needs;
sales and marketing teams understand and communicate
the features and benefits of information products and services.
Experience After seven years as a university library automation analyst and an
executive for two pioneering library automation vendors, Jean left the
field to launch the for-profit division of a nonprofit, educational research
firm. Through books, seminars, and a catalog of innovative products, the new company helped university-level chemistry, biology, and physics professors learn to use microcomputers in their classrooms and laboratories. Next, she established her own marketing communications company and became a partner in a new employee benefits business, to which she contributed
communications and computer expertise.
In 1990, Jean returned to her information technology
roots by conducting a pilot project for a fee-based business information
service at a municipal university. By 1991, her seminar and consulting
activities had become focused on business uses of the Internet under the
name The Montague Institute.
Education Jean holds bachelor's and master's degrees from the Peabody College
of Vanderbilt University and has done additional graduate work at the
University of Kentucky and the Ohio State University.
