Western Behavioral Sciences Institute, La Jolla, CA

The Western Behavioral Sciences Institute (WBSI) has roots in the initiation of The Center for the Study of the Person started by the renowned psychologist, Carl Rogers. The Center was transformed by Rogers’ student, Richard Farson, into an institute located in La Jolla, CA. Dr. Arias’ father once served as a survey analyst at the institute conducting bilingual surveys in South San Diego when Dr. Arias was a young boy. It was these types of early experiences that transformed Dr. Arias at an early age. Hence, he met and literally sat at the table on a regular basis with Carl Rogers, Richard Farson, Abraham Maslow, Herbert Marcuse, James Lovelock, Charles Thomas (Father of Black Psychology), Mary Douglas and many more world-class thinkers.

Dr. Arias performed both undergraduate and graduate studies at UC San Diego while remaining an associate at WBSI. In addition to his mentors (above) he also developed a cadre of advisors and mentors linked between WBSI and UC San Diego to include: Richard Atkinson (Director of the National Science Foundation); Steward Brand (Whole Earth Software Catalog); Harlan Cleveland, (U.S. Ambassador to NATO); Roger Revelle (Director of Scripps Institute of Oceanography); Jonas Salk (Director. Salk Institute); Jacques Vallee (Infomedia/Institute of the Future; and, Herbert York (Director, Institute for the Study of Global Conflict & Cooperation).

 

Dr. Arias collaborated with senior members of ARPANET (precursor to the Internet), as an associate in the School of Management and Strategic Studies (SMSS) at WBSI. As a result, Dr. Arias made original scientific contributions to the earliest forms of computer communications software as a human factor analyst in the design and application of VaxNotes a platform delivered over the Digital Equipment’s private network or DECNET an encapsulated online environment for collaborative research, work, and collaborative education (that acted very much like the Internet), but was operated by invitation only. Dr. Arias extended this work by founding  BESTNET (Binational English & Spanish Telecommunications Network) at WBSI as an international consortia of institutions of higher education, corporations and private entities.

 

It was through these experiences at WBSI and while performing networked-work and human factor analysis for the Digital Equipment Corporation that Dr. Arias learned Enterprise Architecture (EA) and systems engineering as it was applied at the Boeing Jet Corporation. In the spirit of designing computer communication models that could respond to “What if?” scenarios, Dr. Arias began applying EA to the development of brand new universities and began applications infusing the academic social systems. He discovered a breakthrough in smart model development when designing models that could also infuse values and beliefs and the full integration of the core values found in vision statements. He performed R&D on the onset of CSU Monterey Bay and in turn trained engineers at COLEF (Colegio de la Frontera Norte) to carry-out this work.

 

As evidenced by his long history of creating innovative technologically centered projects Dr. Arias is called upon to help leaders in higher education in the State of California to rethink there capacity to offer higher education to the growing numbers of students coming up through the ranks. Dr. Arias proffers a new paradigm for looking at a Multi-University for the future of California through the use of Enterprise Architecture and systems engineering.