John Bear (educator)
John Bjorn Bear is an American businessman in the distance education industry. He is also a writer of creative reference works.
Early life and education
Bear attended Reed College in Oregon, and holds bachelor's and master's degrees from University of California, Berkeley and a doctorate from Michigan State University.Career
He is the author of Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning, whose 16th edition was published in 2006. He is also co-author of the first two editions of the book now called Walston's Guide to Christian Distance Learning. He has been engaged by the FBI in its investigations of diploma mills for some twenty years.In the past, Bear was involved with several unaccredited start-up distance learning institutions, including Columbia Pacific University, Fairfax University, and Greenwich University. He describes the nature of these affiliations in Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning and on his website. Bear is widely acknowledged to be a leading authority on distance learning and diploma mills. In 2004, he was interviewed by CBS's 60 Minutes for an investigation involving Hamilton University. He has appeared as a degree mill expert on TV shows including Good Morning America, Inside Edition and American Journal.
Bear has written or co-authored 35 books on education, cooking, consumerism, humor, computers, and the world of publishing.
Personal life
Bear lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife Marina. They have three daughters and five grandchildren.Books
Education related
Degree Mills: the billion dollar industry that has sold more than a million fake degrees Get Your IT Degree and Get Ahead Bears' Guide to the Best MBAs by Distance Learning, Bears' Guide to the Best Computer Degrees by Distance Learning, Bears' Guide to the Best Education Degrees by Distance Learning, March 1, 2004, Bears' Guide to Finding Money for College Guide to Nontraditional Higher Education Fifteen monographs on the higher education systems of the United States, Germany, Cuba, Mexico, and other countries.Miscellaneous
Morning Food from Cafe Beaujolais The Something-Went-Wrong, What-Do-I-Do-Now Cookbook, Signals and Messages The Blackmail Diet: lose weight or else Not Your Mother's Cookbook Send This Jerk the Bedbug Letter: how corporations, politicians, and the media deal with consumer complaints The #1 New York Times Bestseller Complaint Letters for Busy People, How to Repair Food Computer Wimp: 166 things I wish I knew before I bought my first computer, Ten Speed Press, 1983. Computer Wimp No More: the intelligent beginner's guide to computers, Ten Speed Press, revised edition 1991. Mailing from Mexico The Unusual Guide to Unusual Shopping in San Francisco The Prince and the Frog and the Princess and the Mole and the Prince and the Frog and, The World's Worst Proverbs, So You're In Your Twenties So You're in Your ThirtiesSo You're in Your FortiesSo You're in Your Fifties- ''So You're in Your Sixties''