Leadership Initiative Launched

Retired general and NC State Textiles alum Hugh Shelton to lead program

Reprinted from the January 18, 2002 NC State Bulletin

Chancellor Marye Anne Fox and Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. H. Hugh Shelton on January 14, 2002 announced that he will return to the university as executive director of the newly created Gen. Henry Hugh Shelton Initiative for Leadership Development at NC State.

As the initiative’s executive director as well as a Senior Leadership Fellow, Shelton, an NC State textiles alumnus, will return to the university's campus several times during the coming year to promote leadership development in a variety of ways, including hosting workshops and motivational seminars for honors students. He will direct the Shelton Leadership Seminar Series, which twice a year will bring, recognized leaders to interact with the university community. He also will act as technical adviser on faculty research projects that have military science components.

Ultimately, plans call for the initiative to promote leadership development programs off-campus as well, particularly in economically disadvantaged rural parts of the state.

"The initiative will give our students and our state’s citizens the opportunity to learn leadership skills from a man who is one of our nation's most powerful symbols of leadership excellence," said Fox.

"North Carolina’s economic future rests in large measure upon our ability to identify, prepare and educate leaders. This is something we at NC State know well," she said. "The Shelton Initiative will reach across disciplines and beyond campus boundaries to promote leadership development programs that will benefit individuals, businesses and communities statewide."

A native of Tarboro, Shelton received a bachelor’s degree in textile technology from NC State in 1963. He was the 14th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1997 until his retirement last year. A decorated combat veteran who served two tours in Vietnam, he was the first member of the elite U.S. Army Special Forces -- the Green Berets -- to rise to the nation’s top military post. He is a former commander of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg and led the Operation Uphold Democracy joint task force in Haiti in 1994.

 "A lot of time we tend to confuse leadership with management," Shelton said during Monday's announcement. "My definition of leadership is your ability to influence people. That influences an organization and that accomplishes a task. We manage things, we influence with people. We lead people."

He was awarded the NC State Alumni Association’s Special Citation -- one of its highest honors -- last year for his service to the university.

The new Shelton Initiative is administered through NC State’s Office of Extension and Engagement. The initiative will work in concert with other university programs, including the Institute for Emerging Issues and the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service, and with outside partners, to promote educational programs statewide. It also will support research to assess the impact effective leadership has on economic development and revitalization.

"This will be a new model for economic empowerment," said Dr. Stephen B. Jones, vice chancellor for extension and engagement. "To ensure future economic health, our state's communities and businesses need to be given not only the tools for economic development, but also for leadership development. That's what this initiative is all about."

Gen. Hugh Shelton acknowledges the applause from the Entertainment and Sports Arena crowd and Chancellor Marye Anne Fox (right) prior to the start of the men’s basketball game against Duke on January 13.