Senior Fellow Frank Gavin publishes op-ed praising leadership [br]of[/br] UT President Bill Powers

Frank Gavin | Jul 10, 2014

Titled “Why UT President Powers is the best at what he does,” Gavin writes:

In 2005, as an untenured assistant professor, I approached Powers, who was then dean of the law school, to create an innovative center, named after the great diplomat Bob Strauss. The plan was both far-fetched and groundbreaking. Powers enthusiastically supported the effort, both as dean and president, and the initiative raised millions and transformed the study of global policy on campus.

The center recruited a terrific Yale-trained scholar and policymaker, William Inboden. As an untenured assistant professor, Inboden proposed his own far-fetched but groundbreaking initiative. Powers supported the effort, helped raised millions of dollars, and a few years later the Clements Center is transforming how history contributes to national and international security.

I have spent time at many great universities, both public and private. I can say with all honesty that only the University of Texas, led by Bill Powers, would have had the vision, courage and wisdom — the imagination — to support two untenured assistant professors with crazy dreams of innovation and transformation. These are just two small stories; there are countless others like them.

Gavin holds the Frank Stanton chair in nuclear security policy studies at MIT. From 2000 to 2013, he taught at the LBJ School of Public Affairs a The University of Texas and was the director of the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law.

Click here to read the full op-ed.