If you want people to build a ship, teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Spring 2009

Academy Talks Speaker Series:

Wednesday, March 25th, 2009
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm; Location: Lucille Maurer Leadership Library, 1126 Taliaferro Hall
Lunch will be served. Please RSVP to tlawson@academy.umd.edu
"Leadership in an Age of Crisis"
Suheil B. Bushrui, Ph.D.
Professor Suheil Badi Bushrui is a distinguished author, poet, critic, translator and media personality, well known in the United States, Europe, and the Arab world. Widely recognized for his seminal studies in English of the works of W.B. Yeats, Professor Bushrui is also the foremost authority on the works of Kahlil Gibran. In addition to his many books (in both Arabic and English), Professor Bushrui is the author of numerous scholarly articles on topics such as Arabic and English literature, interreligious understanding, intercultural communication, conflict resolution, and global issues.
Professor Bushrui – who holds the title of Research Professor Emeritus – is the Director of the Kahlil Gibran Chair for Values and Peace Project in the Center for Heritage Resource Studies at the University of Maryland; Senior Scholar with the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership; and Senior Scholar (Peace Studies) with the Center for International Development and Conflict Management.
Please find the flyer here.

February 5th, 2009
12:00 pm; Location: Lucille Maurer Leadership Library, 1126 Taliaferro Hall
Lunch will be served.
"Strategic Leadership: The General's Art"
Mark Grandstaff, Ph.D, and Georgia Sorenson, Ph.D.
What distinguishes strategic leadership? According to top U.S. Army generals, the difference lies in the discipline of thinking. Strategic Leadership: The General’s Art provides senior leaders with an understanding of the behavior and competencies that make a good strategic leader. In line with the curriculum followed by senior officers attending the U.S. Army War College, this book teaches leaders of any organization how to think strategically in a volatile, uncertain environment in order to provide transformational leadership and shape outcomes.
The US Army was the first institution to formalize leadership education as well as the first academic program (at West Point) to offer leadership studies majors. Grandstaff and Sorenson offer insights into the Army way of leadership as well as focusing on developing strategic leaders at the senior level.

February 17th, 2009
12:00 pm-1:30pm; Location: Lucille Maurer Leadership Library, 1126 Taliaferro Hall
Lunch will be served.
"US-Africa Relations: Current Challenges, Future Solutions"
Constance Berry Newman, former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs
Constance Berry Newman has been Special Counsel for African Affairs at the Carmen Group since 2005 where she has worked to build partnerships between African governments, non-governmental organizations and multi-nationalcorporations in an effort to support African ownership and participation in development initiatives. In her former positions as Secretary of State for African Affairs, Assistant Administrator for Africa at USAID and as a Board Member of the International Republican Institute, Ms. Newman has worked with several African countries, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Russia, and China.

Her diverse domestic professional experience includes her eight year tenure as Undersecretary for the Smithsonian Institution, as well as her positions as Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Ms. Newman graduated from Bates College with a Political Science degree and earned her law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School. She lives in Washington, DC.

Fall 2008

Academy Talks Speaker Series:

September 24th, 2008
4.15 pm; Location: Lucille Maurer Leadership Library, 1126 Taliaferro Hall
"Workshops on HIV Prevention & Awareness"
Stacy Reed
Stacey Reed is the HIV Prevention Coordinator for The After-School Institute (TASI). Her position at The After-School Institute is to conduct a series of workshops on HIV Prevention & Awareness. As the HIV Prevention Coordinator, it is her responsibility to help youth & adults clarify their own values about sexuality; make decisions that will help them avoid becoming infected with HIV/AIDS; and learn skills to put their decisions into action. She is also responsible for doing a HIV/AIDS Youth Summit for over 200 youth throughout the state of Maryland. Stacey is also the lead trainer of “Becoming a Responsible Teen" (BART), which is a HIV/AIDS Prevention and Awareness curriculum—a training curriculum for youth as well as adults.

October 7th, 2008
1.30 pm; Location: Lucille Maurer Leadership Library, 1126 Taliaferro Hall
"Body Language and Leadership"
Karen Bradley
Leadership is about the actions and interactions one takes within the role. While there are many ways to analyze actions and interactions, movement analysis is a rich unpacking of a leader's personality and decision-making style. Karen Bradley, Certified Movement Analyst in Laban Movement Analysis and Director of Graduate Studies in Dance will help us explore the world of "body language" by looking at ourselves and the Presidential candidates. Bradley's work has been featured in the New Yorker magazine, the Washington Post, New York Newsday, on CNN, HARDBALL, and many other media outlets.

October 15th, 2008
4.15 pm - 5.15 pm; Location: Lucille Maurer Leadership Library, 1126 Taliaferro Hall
"Talk by Donna Edwards"
Congresswoman Donna F. Edwards represents Maryland’s 4th CD after a Special General Election victory on June 17, 2008. Previously, she served as the executive director of the Arca Foundation in Washington, DC. She was the co-founder and executive director of the National Network to End Domestic Violence and worked on campaign finance reform as an advocate for Public Citizen and the Center for a New Democracy. Rep. Edwards completed undergraduate studies at Wake Forest University and received her Juris Doctor from Franklin Pierce Law Center. She lives in Fort Washington and is the proud mother of Jared, a junior at Drew University.

October 28th, 2008
1.30 pm; Location: Lucille Maurer Leadership Library, 1126 Taliaferro Hall
"Unconscious Processing"
Michael Speer
Michael Speer, PhD, offers experience and consulting expertise in group dynamics, team building and organizational leadrship effectiveness. He works with a variety of organizations and people, consulting on matters ranging from productivity improvement based on understanding group dynamics to strategic planning. He is an expert in group relations and interpresonal communications and is certified to administer and interpret the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator. Until 2003, he served as Director of Learning Management and Consulting for the U.S. Government Accountability Office. A member of the Washington-Baltimore Center for the Study of Group Relations, he served as its president from 2001-2004. He has consulted to numerous group relations conferences whose object is to study leadership and authority.

November 4th, 2008
2 pm; Location: Lucille Maurer Leadership Library, 1126 Taliaferro Hall
"Being a leader in multicultural settings"
Jody Olsen
Talk: Establishing mutual trust, transparency, and honesty are critical and yet very difficult skills for being a leader in multicultural settings. These settings intensify need for leaders' self reflection and openness to change when asking change of others.
Jody has been Deputy Director of the Peace Corps for nearly seven years. Prior to this appointment, Oslen served as a peace Corps volunteer in Tunisia, Peace Corps Country Director in Togo, Peace Corps Regional Director for Asia and Pacific, and Peace Corps Chief of Staff. In addition, Dr. Olsen also ran the Fulbright Senior Scholar Program for over five years. Dr. Olsen has traveled to more than 80 countries around the world. Always an advocate for the mission of the Peace Corps and the work of Volunteers, she also speaks at dozens of domestic and international events each year.
Dr. Olsen is a former president of the University of Maryland Alumni Association and remains active in alumni affaris. Dr. Olsen holds a bachelor's degree in sociology with a teaching certification from the University of Utah; a master's degree in Social work from the University of Maryland; and a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland's COllege of Education. Please read the following Peace Corps Volunteer story

November 5th, 2008
4 pm; Location: Lucille Maurer Leadership Library, 1126 Taliaferro Hall
"Being a leader in multicultural settings"
Dr. Destler
Dr. Destler specializes in the politics of U.S. foreign policymaking. He is co-author of "In the SHadow of the Oval office (Simon and Schuster,2009)", which analyzes the role of the President's national security adviser from the Kennedy through the George W. Bush administration. He is also the author of "American Trade Politics (Institute for International Economics-IIE, 2005)", "Misreading the Public: The Myth of a New Isolationism (Brookings institution Press, 1999)", and "Protecting the American Homeland, (Brookings Institution, 2002 and 2003)".
Dester is also a fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Washington DC, where he conducts research on the political economy of trade policy-making. He has consulted an government organization for economic and foreigh policymaking at the Executive Office of the President and the Department of State, and held senior research positions at IIE, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and the Brookings Institution. He is the recepient of the University of Mary;and's Distinguished Internatioal Service Award for 1998. Destler teaches trade policty, American foreighn policy making and political institutions.

November 19th, 2008
4.00 pm - 5.15 pm; Location: Lucille Maurer Leadership Library, 1126 Taliaferro Hall
"Talk by John Deasy"
JOhn Deasy earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Chemistry Education and a Master of Arts in Education Administration from Providence College, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Education from the University of Louisville. John Deasy is the Superintendent of Prince George’s County Public Schools, Maryland’s second largest school system and the nation’s 18th largest district. He leads an organization that offers 134,000 children an innovative, technology-infused curriculum that has produced significant academic gains. Dr. Deasy is leading aggressive school reform strategies designed to: 1) prepare every child for high school graduation, and 2) to make sure college is an option for every child. Dr. Deasy is married and has three children. Mrs. Deasy, a nurse practitioner and program manager in a diabetes clinic, is the author of Prevention and Education of Diabetes in the African-American Community.

November 25th, 2008
1.30 pm; Location: Lucille Maurer Leadership Library, 1126 Taliaferro Hall
"Storytelling in Metaphors"
JoAn Herren
Using metaphors in leadership development lightens conflict situations, brings inspiration at a time of despair, adds humor when humiliation is imminent. The ability to transcend the present circumstances and elevate them to another plane creates an alternate environment in which to communicate.
JoAn Knight Herren most recently was selected by the Department of State Fulbright Commission to offer a two-week leadership course to Indigenous Students in Quito, Ecuador. She is a former federal employee of the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. Ms. Herren designed and delivered thirteen years of professional leadership development coursework, seminars and workshops for the Fellows' Program. She is a nationally known speaker and writer on professional development and strategies to help leaders communicate their dreams and visions more effectively.

December 2nd, 2008
1.30 pm; Location: Lucille Maurer Leadership Library, 1126 Taliaferro Hall
"Leadership: The key to containing catatstrophe"
Leadership is a critical dimension to the preparedness for, response to, and recovery from potentially catastrophic events which threaten our society and economy. Better leadership during the response to Hurricane Katrina, for example, could have significantly decreased the human suffering and social impact. Conversely, strong leadership contributed to the effective evacuation of millions from the paths of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, undoubtably saving thousans of lives. What skills, knowledge, and attributes are necessary to recognize and apapt to unexpected conditions under extreme stress and uncertainty, to coordinate huge decentralized organizations, and to communicate effectively with the public? The seminar will explore the dimensions of the leadership challenges created by complex, catastrophic events and describe how research and education can help respond to these challenges.
Jack Harrald
Dr. John Harrald is the Director Emeritus of The George Washington University Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management and Professor Emeritus of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering in the GWU School of Engineering and Applied Science. He is a Research Professor at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Center for Technology, Security, and Policy. Dr. Harrald is a member of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention Board of Scientific Counselors, a member of the National Research Council Disasters Roundtable Steering Committee and the National Research Council Committee on Aviation Emergency Management.
He is the Executive Editor of the electronic Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. He is the Immediate Past President of The International Emergency Management Society (TIEMS) and is the former Associate Director of the National Ports and Waterways Institute. Dr. Harrald has been actively engaged in the fields of emergency and crisis management and maritime safety and security and as a researcher in his academic career and as a practitioner during his 22 year career as a U.S. Coast Guard officer, retiring in the grade of Captain. He has written and published in the fields of crisis management, emergency management, management science, risk and vulnerability analysis, and maritime safety. Dr. Harrald was the Principle Investigator for maritime risk and crisis management studies in Prince William Sound, Alaska, the Port of New Orleans, San Francisco Bay, and Washington State. He has studied the response to the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Loma Prieta Earthquake, Hurricane Hugo, Hurricane Andrew, the Northridge Earthquake, the 1999 Turkey earthquakes, the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and Hurricane Katrina. Dr. Harrald received his B.S. in Engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, a M.A.L.S. from Wesleyan University, a M.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he was an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow, and an MBA and Ph.D. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

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