|
About the Institute:
The mission of the Professional Vocabulary Institute is to assist individuals in the acquisition of both substantive knowledge and a more refined vocabulary. Our classes
and audio programs help simplify the English language and the learning process. Almost anyone, from an average high school student to a high-tech professional, can quickly achieve a superior ability
to comprehend the written page and communicate with greater fluency and ease.
About the Director:
As learning impaired student, Don Woodruff found it impossible to keep up with required college-level reading. Suffering from both
diplopia (double vision) and a moderate form of dyslexia, he dropped out of a New York State college of music after just three semesters to become the first-chair clarinetist with the United States
Air Force Band of the East.
From 1981 through 1996, he was the president of Woodruff Promotions, a national marketing firm located in Ithaca, New York. Woodruff
Promotions created and conducted marketing programs for over 350 clients, including local buisnesses, Las Vegas Hotels, Sea World, and the Walt Disney Company. It was during this time period he
became interested in high comprehension learning and reading techniques. With the help of a friend, a Ph.D. from the linguistics department of Cornell University, Woodruff developed a seminar that
became the forerunner to the Kangaroo Method. The seminar, entitled “Becoming the Best Possible Student,” was presented to college and high school audiences and became an audio program published by
Ithaca Learning in 1994.
Returning to college that fall, Woodruff took basic classes in psychology, math, science, business, and economics at a local community
college. Posing as a Cornell grad student, he used his knowledge of marketing research to survey a group of 120 Cornell honor students hoping to identify similarities in their study habits. He
humorously shares his findings from that illicit survey with his audiences, pointing out the single, in common habit of these highly successful students.
Following his strong desire to bring this information to the public, Woodruff sold his marketing company and founded Rochester
Info-courses Lifelong Learning Center in the fall of 1996. The center featured approximately 250 adult education classes, and its facility, located in the arts district of Rochester, New York,
offered multiple classrooms, a cafe, and bookstore sponsored by Borders Books. It was here that Woodruff refined his workshop into “The Kangaroo Method: Shortcut to Accelerated Learning” by drawing
off the expertise of dozens of other national educators. An audio book was soon published and was distribute by Ingram’s throughout the U.S. and Canada. To pursue his speaking career, he sold the
educational corporation the spring of 2001.
Today, Don Woodruff tours the United States and Canada offering his life-changing seminars. He is an adjunct faculty member of 14
colleges and universities and is the current director of the Professional Vocabulary Institute. His vocabulary and learning techniques have been shared around the world in over 30 languages through
Voice of America’s “Beyond the Headlines” television broadcasts. He is a featured speaker at International Learning Symposiums and is known for his ability to articulate complex concepts in a
remarkably entertaining and simple way.
|
