The Early Years

Joan Elizabeth Lowe was born in Key West, Florida. She graduated with honors from Key West High School. She received a B.A. degree in French and Spanish Florida State University; a M.S. degree in Educational Administration/Supervision, with emphasis in Curriculum Designf rom Florida International University.

The Middle Years

From 1979 to 1989, Joan worked in the U.S. Department of Education, the
Voice of America and the Internal Revenue Service. She held several positions as Program Manager, Branch Chief and Acting Division Chief with  primary responsibility for implementing Total Quality Management (TQM). Joan also consulted with other federal government organizations to help them implement TQM.

She completed her dissertation research while serving as the Quality Training Program Manager for the Internal Revenue Service. She received her Ed.D. in Human Resource/Organizational Development from Virginia Tech in 1990.

From 1990 - 1992, she was the Director, Total Quality Management for SICPA, Securink, Inc., an international firm that manufactures specialty ink--for example, currency and banknotes. While at SICPA, Joan led the organization to ISO 9000 certification and was credited for solving several major quality related issues.. She later consulted with numerous other organizations seeking ISO certification.

In 1993, Joan founded Integrated Leadership Concepts, Inc. Since then she has consulted with numerous organizations to help them improve quality, productivity, and employee and customer satisfaction. She also provided keynotes and seminars at dozens of  international, national, state and local conferences.

Joan also taught graduate level management courses as an adjunct professor for Marymount  University, National Louis University, Michael Louis University and Johns Hopkins University.

The Present

In January 2002,   Joan began teaching undergraduate courses for the University of Maryland University College. After three years as an adjunct, she was hired as a full-time Collegiate Professor in the Department of Human Resources Management. Go to: