Speakers inspire future leaders

Astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, Jr., national security expert Barry McCaffrey, and award-winning broadcast personality Ananda Lewis were among the notable leaders who took part in a three-day student leadership conference hosted by the LBJ School’s Center for Ethical Leadership (CEL) in February.

“Leadership is a highly complex form of human behavior that requires the integration of knowledge and experience,” said LBJ School faculty member Howard Prince, director of the CEL. The conference aimed to cultivate a new crop of leaders by bringing together educators and students with experienced leaders from diverse backgrounds who shared their insights. Almost 200 undergraduates and high school students handpicked from schools across Texas and Mexico were involved in an intensive program that included lectures, workshops, and social events.

UT President Larry Faulkner opened the conference by telling the students that “the world you are going into is a highly complex one and will require skilled leaders.”

General McCaffrey, former director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, spoke about how leadership would factor into addressing national security threats. He outlined how a leader could construct an efficient organizational structure, motivate a subordinate team, and create “horizontal networks to endorse, share, and enhance” a predetermined policy.

Astronaut, author, pilot, and engineer Buzz Aldrin delighted a crowd of conference attendees and the general public with his multimedia presentation, which included a film of NASA space program footage scored to excerpts from Gustav Holst’s The Planets, a “Buzz Lightyear” doll, an essay commemorating the space shuttle Columbia explosion, and a slide-show-illustrated biographical sketch of his experiences in the Air Force and as an astronaut.

Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, said he is aware of the impact his life has had. “Millions of people around the world were inspired by seeing the dreams of centuries realized,” he mused. “Five hundred years from now, our descendants in a far star system may look back at this time and at the Earth and say, ‘Here was where history began.’ ”

Lewis, who is a social activist and media entrepreneur, spoke at the leadership conference’s opening dinner at UT Austin’s Etter-Harbin Alumni Center. Other speakers were former U.S. Senator Max Cleland and Margaret Wheatley, award-winning author and teacher.

Record Home • Publications • LBJ School
May 5, 2003
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