SHERMAN, TEXAS | March 31, 2018
Austin College will host Barbara Pierce Bush, co-founder and board chair of the Global Health Corps, as the 2018 recipient of the Austin College Posey Leadership Award, speaking on “Passion – Energy – Innovation: Mobilizing Young Leaders for Global Change,” on Tuesday, April 3, at 11 a.m. in Wynne Chapel on campus. The presentation is free and open to the public.
Community sponsors for the Sherman events are Bank of Texas and the Sherman Economic Development Corporation (SEDCO).
The Austin College Posey Leadership Award recognizes Bush’s leadership in creating and leading the Global Health Corps. In 2009, Bush responded to a challenge to young leaders to engage their generation in solving the world’s biggest health challenges. Bound by a belief that health is a human right and that it is up to their generation to build a world where this right is realized, she and the co-founders set out to mobilize a global community to build the movement for health equity. The organization since has sent out more than 1,000 young leaders from more than 40 countries to serve in one-year paid fellowships with nonprofit and government health organizations in nations throughout Africa and in sites in the United States.
A native of Dallas, Bush graduated from Yale University in 2004 with a humanities degree. She has served with Baylor College of Medicine’s International Pediatrics AIDS Initiative Clinics in Africa and with UNICEF in Botswana. Additionally, she worked at the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Red Cross Children’s Hospital in South Africa, and the UN World Food Programme.
In recognition of her innovative work in health equity, Bush has been named to several high-profile lists, including Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business (2015), Forbes Under 30 Summit (2015), Goldman Sachs’ 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs (2014), and Newsweek’s Women of Impact (2013). She was selected as one of six Gerson Lehrman Group Social Impact Fellows in 2016. Ms. Bush also is a World Economic Forum Young Global Shaper and a Fellow of the Echoing Green Foundation. She sits on the boards of Covenant House International and the Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, TB, and Malaria.
Bush’s visit continues a strong family legacy with Austin College. George H.W. Bush received an honorary doctoral degree from the college in 1973 and was on campus in 2002-2003 as the college’s Chair of Excellence in International Leadership. Former First Lady of the United States Barbara Bush was the 1998 Commencement speaker, receiving an honorary doctoral degree, and George W. Bush was the 1999 Commencement speaker while he was governor of Texas, also receiving an honorary doctoral degree.
Bush also will speak Wednesday, April 4, at 7:45 p.m. in Dallas at Perot Museum of Nature and Science. The award and $100,000 prize will be presented following her talk in Dallas. Tickets to that event start at $50 and are available at www.austincollege.edu/goforum.
At the Dallas event, Bush’s speech will be followed by a question-and-answer session moderated by communications professional Catherine Cuellar, director of partnerships for RefillWise of Dallas. To close the evening, Austin College president Steven O’Day and Board of Trustees chair David Corrigan will present the award and accompanying check of $100,000 to Bush. She will meet with nearly 500 Dallas-area high school students at Parish Episcopal School in an invitation-only event earlier in the day hosted by the Dallas World Affairs Council’s Global Young Leaders program.
The Austin College Leadership Award was created in March 2008 through the generosity of Sally and Lee Posey, founder of Palm Harbor Homes; the Posey name was added to the award upon Lee Posey’s death in 2008. The award honors outstanding individuals who, through their work, demonstrate principles of servant leadership. Past recipients include Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach For America; Paul Farmer, noted Harvard physician and humanitarian; Geoffrey Canada, president and CEO of Harlem Children’s Zone; Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and founder of Grameen Bank; Marian Wright Edelman, founder of the Children’s Defense Fund; Salman Khan, founder of Khan Academy; Nathan Wolfe, epidemiologist and author of the “The Viral Storm”; Shigeru Ban, humanitarian architect and founder of the Voluntary Architects’ Network; co-recipients Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, founders of Half the Sky Movement and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists; and Vikram Patel, psychiatrist and director of international mental health programs.
Dallas-area sponsors for events at the Perot include Lyda Hill; Goldman, Sachs & Co.; David and Emily Corrigan; Mrs. Henry Estess; Stan and Judy Woodward; Drs. John and Anne Andersen; Jim and Anne Hartnett; Brent Christopher; Rebecca and Ron Gafford; Ann Ross; Becky and Larry Sykes; DHD Films; the World Affairs Council of Dallas; Parish Episcopal School; and Perot Museum of Nature & Science. Additional sponsors are Ira and Frances Anderson of Houston and San Angelo physician Fazlur Rahman, M.D. and his wife Jahanara Rahman.
Austin College, a private national liberal arts college located north of Dallas in Sherman, Texas, has earned a reputation for excellence in academic preparation, international study, pre-professional foundations, leadership development, committed faculty, and hands-on, adventurous learning opportunities. One of 40 schools profiled in Loren Pope’s influential book Colleges That Change Lives, Austin College boasts a welcoming community that embraces diversity and individuality, with more than 40 percent of students representing ethnic minorities. A residential student body of approximately 1,275 students and a faculty of more than 100 allow a 13:1 student-faculty ratio and personalized attention. The College is related by covenant to the Presbyterian Church (USA) and cultivates an inclusive atmosphere that supports students’ faith journeys regardless of religious tradition. Founded in 1849, the College is the oldest institution of higher education in Texas operating under original name and charter.