George Welcomes: Summer 2015

Headliners from University Events

Rick Santorum

"If I run and am elected president, it won't be worth the paper it's printed on."

Former U.S Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.),

commenting in March on the Obama administration’s potential nuclear deal with Iran, during an event hosted by the GW Young America Foundation. In May, the 2012 presidential hopeful announced he is making another run for the White House in 2016.
Photo: Zach Marin, CCAS '18

Laverne Cox

"I am not one thing, and neither are you."

Transgender actress and advocate Laverne Cox,

encouraging students to embrace their complex identities. She spoke at a packed Lisner Auditorium event in April that was organized to commemorate International Transgender Day of Visibility.
Photo: William Atkins

Jim Clifton

“We know brilliance. We know where all the point guards are— no point guards are left behind in this country.”

Gallup CEO Jim Clifton

arguing that a focus on treating and recruiting budding entrepreneurs in the same manner as star athletes or intellectuals could provide a boost to the country’s future economic growth. He gave the School of Business’ 16th annual Robert P. Maxon Lecture.
Photo: Abby Greenawalt

Cory Booker

“With the 1994 crime bill a lot of people thought they were doing the right thing for communities… but I think it was dealing with symptoms of problems, not the core root of them.”

U.S Sen. Cory Booker (D-N-J.),

at GW’s Jack Morton Auditorium during a conference on the legacy of the Violent Crime and Law Enforcement Act. The event was convened by the nonprofit Vera Institute of Justice.
Photo: William Atkins

Milan Panic

“We need a Pentagon of peace.”

Former Yugoslav Prime Minister Milan Panic,

urging the United States to be a paragon for peace and pragmatic solutions, and to avoid resolving problems with military might. Mr. Panic spoke at the Elliott School of International Affairs in April and discussed his new memoir, Prime Minister for Peace: My Struggle for Serbian Democracy.
Photo: Dave Scavone

Interviews On Diversity

The CEOs of HBO Inc., KPMG-US, Johnson Publishing Company, MGM Resorts International and Siemens USA gathered before an audience of students, journalists and business and government leaders at GW’s Jack Morton Auditorium in April for a series of interviews on diversity—of employees, skills and products—and the digital economy.

The event, “Executive Actions: Steering Companies and Reimagining Industries,” served as the launch of a partnership between GW and The Washington Post. The company’s own CEO and publisher, Fred Ryan, was on-hand, and its reporters moderated the discussions. Here’s a look at what was said:

“We’ve faced competition from the beginning—22 years ago, it was unfathomable that a cable channel could compete with network TV."

HBO CEO Richard Plepler,

speaking about the channel's flexibility, including the rollout of its new streaming service, HBO Now, which he called a "millenial missile". "We've been appropriately evolutionary."
Photo: William Atkins

"This is how we are going to rebuild the American middle class. The whole world is digital.”

Simens USA President and CEO Eric Spiegel

said the nation should refocus K-12 education on skills—like math and computer science—for thriving in the digitial economy.
Photo: William Atkins

“Diversity has to be more than just words-it's what you do."

CEO of Johnson Publishing Company Desiree Rogers

The company’s Fashion Fair Cosmetics line, she said, was born from the idea that women should be able to find makeup to match any skin tone.
Photo: William Atkins

John Veihmeyer, KPMG International chairman and KPMG-US chairman and CEO,

noted that a survey of 400 CEOs last year found their top concern is technology rendering their firms obsolete. With such quick shifts in industries, companies want recent college graduates with a good attitude, a willingness to learn and workplace experience, he said.
Photo: William Atkins