By Sandra J. Peart, Dean and E. Claiborne Robins Distinguished Professor in Leadership Studies and President of the Jepson Scholars Foundation
Our students’ time at the Jepson School of Leadership Studies is marked by three formal ceremonies: a beginning (Prelude), a celebration and end (Finale), and a beginning (Commencement). These latter two are exciting and bittersweet. At Prelude, I urge students
Read moreCitizens of democracies often don’t understand issues well enough to vote in a way that reflects their best interests, according to political scientist Dr. Larry Bartels. He said even the few who are well informed and politically engaged generally vote
Read moreFacebook could throw a close election without most Americans even knowing it, Zeynep Tufekci told a capacity crowd at the Jepson Leadership Forum Feb. 13. The self-described technosociologist and associate professor at UNC School of Information and Library Science was quick
Read moreThose who study leadership sometimes measure characteristics in one dimension or another, with little regard for interrelationships among dimensions. In this view, good leaders are bold and visionary, willing to take risks, and socially conscious. Bad leaders are none of
Read more“Be bold.” In her telling, noted leadership scholar James MacGregor Burns offered this advice as Blanche Wiesen Cook began work on her three-volume biography of Eleanor Roosevelt. Dr. Cook, distinguished professor of history and women’s studies at John Jay College
Read moreIn an address to a packed crowd, Dr. E. Bruce Heilman delivered a speech, brilliantly entitled “Why They Never Talked about It.” Chancellor Heilman, who was president of the University of Richmond from 1971-1986 and interim president from 1987-1988, leads
Read morePrelude. This event is one of my favorites. As anyone who has graduated from the Jepson School knows, our faculty, staff, and current students warmly welcome new students to our community during this ceremony. Following the formal induction, students sign
Read moreAlmost exactly one year ago, as the Jepson School celebrated its 25th anniversary, Robert S. Jepson Jr. challenged the School’s community to continue to be pathfinders and explorers: “You have no creative boundaries, no boxes hemming you in, and —
Read moreOn this blog and elsewhere, I’ve shared about the Jepson Profile-Raising Initiative, which the School’s Executive Board of Advisors launched in fall 2017. The Board has 14 current members, with representation from alumni, parents of alumni, faculty, and friends of
Read moreJepson’s commitment to educating students both for and about leadership is one of the School’s most intriguing aspects. Even as our scholarship investigates questions of leadership, we’re simultaneously educating students for leadership in all organizations. As democratic institutions have been
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