By Robin Gerrow
College of Liberal Arts

The last thing Tom Schieffer expected out of life was to be the general partner of a baseball team, much less the U.S. Ambassador to Australia.

President George W. Bush appointed Schieffer, an alumnus of The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts and the School of Law, to the ambassador post earlier this year. Students and faculty of the Edward A. Clark Center for Australian Studies had the opportunity to exchange information with Schieffer concerning Australia during his visit to the campus earlier this month.

Tom Schieffer, U.S. Ambassador to Australia, credits his liberal arts education for much of his success. He recently spoke on campus to students and faculty in the Edward A. Clark Center for Australian Studies.

"I often tell young people that getting a liberal arts education is the best thing you can do," Schieffer said. "You can learn how you are going to live and what values you will have, which is much more important than how you make a living.

"I never expected to manage a baseball team or become an ambassador. There are no specific courses I could have taken to learn how to do those things, but my studies in government and English have prepared me for anything that comes up."

The road to the ambassadorship for Schieffer began as a student at majoring in government. He went on to complete his master’s degree specializing in international relations before being elected to the Texas House of Representatives at age 25, serving three terms.

After finishing his studies at the School of Law, he was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1979, focusing his practice on investments in the oil and gas industry. He was an investor in the Texas Rangers Baseball Club in 1989 and was named managing general partner when President Bush was elected governor of Texas in 1994. He continued in the role of president of the club until 1999, when he resigned to become a consultant and president of J. Thomas Schieffer Management Company and Pablo Operating Company.

"Half the jobs that are out there now didn’t even exist when I was in school," Schieffer said. "But with a good liberal arts education I’ve been able to succeed in the world that has come about."