Missouri Western State University will welcome noted energy entrepreneur T. Boone Pickens as the featured speaker at the 19th annual Convocation on Critical Issues at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 4 in the Looney Complex. The Convocation is free and open to the public.
Following the Convocation, Pickens will be the guest of honor at the Convocation Luncheon, where he will answer questions submitted by the audience. Reservations are required. Tickets are $40. Please call 816-271-5670 by Thursday, Sept. 27.
A folk hero in global business for his tenacity in the rough-and-tumble world of mergers and acquisitions, Pickens’ career has staggering breadth. He first built and led one of the largest independent natural gas and oil companies. Then, at a time in his life when many of his peers retired to the golf course, he reinvented himself by establishing one of the nation’s most successful energy-related investment funds. He chronicled the lessons he learned during his journey in his best selling 2008 autobiography titled “The First Billion is the Hardest: Reflections on a Life of Comebacks and America’s Energy Future.” His speech at Missouri Western will be titled “Leadership and Getting Things Done: Reflections on a Lifetime of Comebacks and America’s Energy Future.”
Ranked by Forbes as one of the world’s richest people, Pickens serves as the chairman of BP Capital Management. He is a noted energy activist who is also an innovative, committed philanthropist who has donated nearly $1 billion to charity. His impact on American culture reflects his many interests and passions, including an unyielding belief in the entrepreneurial spirit, leadership and corporate fitness, the need for alternative fuel development, and prudent stewardship of American lands.
The annual Convocation on Critical Issues began in 1993 as part of an overall commitment to offer enriching experiences to students while bringing together the university and the community. It is sponsored by the Missouri Western State University Foundation and held in honor of R. Dan Boulware, a local attorney and past president of Missouri Western’s Board of Regents.
Previous speakers at the Convocation on Critical Issues include Bill Bradley, James Carville and Mary Matalin, Sam Donaldson, Steve Forbes, Thomas Friedman, David Gergen, Newt Gingrich, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Jeane Kirkpatrick, Jerry Linenger, David McCullough, Joseph Nye, Colin Powell, Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Daniel Schorr, Patricia Schroeder, J. C. Watts and Bob Woodward.
Missouri Western State University is a comprehensive regional university providing a blend of traditional liberal arts and professional degree programs. The university offers student-centered, high quality instruction that focuses on experience-based learning, community service, and state-of-the-art technology. Missouri Western is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit www.missouriwestern.edu.