Syllabus

Course Description

This seminar meets six times during the semester. Students work in a seminar environment to develop leadership capabilities. An initial Outward Bound experience builds trust, teamwork and communications. Readings and assignments emphasize the characteristics of great leadership. Global leaders participate in the "Leadership Lunch" series to share their experiences and recommendations. Discussions explore leadership development. The learning experience culminates in a personal leadership plan.

Learning Objectives

1. Contemplate essential questions for leadership
2. Define the qualities of a leader
3. Research personal characteristics
4. Provide global examples of leadership
5. Formulate a TPP leadership plan for yourself

Grading

Leadership Lunches

The following are biographies of the invited guest speakers.

Prof. Sheila Widnall

Institute Professor
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems

Dr. Widnall received her Sc.D. from MIT.
She has served as Associate Provost, MIT, and as Secretary of the Air Force. As Secretary of the Air Force, Dr. Widnall was responsible for all affairs of the Department of the Air Force including recruiting, organizing, training, administration, logistical support, maintenance, and welfare of personnel. During this time, the Air Force issued its long range vision statement: Global Engagement: A Vision for the 21st Century Air Force, which defined the path from the air and space force of today to the space and air force of the next century. Dr. Widnall was also responsible for research and development and other activities prescribed by the President or the Secretary of Defense. She co-chaired the Department of Defense Task Force on Sexual Harassment and Discrimination. She later stepped down to resume teaching.

Since returning to MIT, she has been active in the Lean Aerospace Initiative, with special emphasis on the space and policy focus teams. Her research activities in fluid dynamics have included the following: boundary layer stability, unsteady hydrodynamic loads on fully wetted and supercavitating hydrofoils of finite span, unsteady lifting-surface theory, unsteady air forces on oscillating cylinders in subsonic and supersonic flow, unsteady leading-edge vortex separation from slender delta wings, tip-vortex aerodynamics, helicopter noise, aerodynamics of high-speed ground transportation vehicles, vortex stability, aircraft-wake studies, turbulence, and transition. Her teaching activities have included undergraduate dynamics and aerodynamics, graduate level aerodynamics of wings and bodies, aeroelasticity, acoustics and aerodynamic noise, and aerospace vehicle vibration. She was a member of the Columbia accident investigation board, and she was inducted into the Women's Hall of Fame in 2003.

Hon. Robert Walker

Congressman Robert S. Walker retired from the U.S. House of Representatives after serving Pennsylvania's 16th District for twenty years. During that service he became Chairman of the Science Committee, Chief Deputy Republican Whip, Chairman of the Republican leadership and Speaker Pro Tempore. Because of his role as GOP floor manager for much of his career, the prestigious insider publication, The National Journal, said of him, "Indeed as much as anyone, he is the father of the revolution that led to the Republican victory in 1994."

As Chairman of Wexler & Walker, the former Congressman has been cited as one of Washington's top lobbyists by The Hill newspaper and as a "superstar lobbyist" by Financial Wire; is regularly called upon to testify on Capitol Hill; is a Bush Administration confidante having been asked to serve as Chairman of the Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry, as a member of the President's Commission on the United States Postal Service and as a member of the Presidential Commission on the Implementation of the United States Space Exploration Policy; was appointed to the Aviation and Space Engineering Board of the National Research Council; is a familiar participant on CNN's "Crossfire" and Fox News; is a lecturer at the Brookings Institution, the Georgetown University Government Affairs Institute and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University; is a commentator and resource for CNBC, PBS, Fox News and several major national newspapers; and is a writer of books and articles. All of this activity gives Wexler & Walker clients unparalleled insight into public policy formulation and decision-making.

From President Bush's hydrogen initiative to the complexities of postal reform, Mr. Walker has played a key role in development and implementation of major public strategies. He is seen as an expert in science, space, technology and energy issues and a master of legislative tactics and procedure.

In 1996, Mr. Walker was the first sitting House Member to be awarded NASA's highest honor, the Distinguished Service Medal, and in 2004, was presented NASA's Distinguished Public Service Medal. He continues his involvement in space policy as a board member of the Aerospace Corporation, SpaceDev, and as Vice Chairman of the Space Foundation. In naming Walker as one of the 100 most prominent space leaders of the last 15 years, Space News called him, "one of Washington's most influential lobbyists" whose "stature and influence have only grown since leaving Congress."

In addition, he is a member of the advisory boards of IMAX Corporation, InnerLink and the Nanotechnology Policy Foundation. Beginning in 2002 through the 2004-05 celebration, Walker co-chaired along with his wife, Sue, Millersville University's 150th Anniversary celebration.

Prior to his election to Congress in 1976, Mr. Walker was a high school teacher and a congressional aide. He holds a B.S. in Education from Millersville University in Pennsylvania, an M.A. in Political Science from the University of Delaware, and an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Franklin and Marshall College. He and his wife maintain homes in East Petersburg, Pennsylvania and Washington, DC.

MIT President Charles Vest

Charles M. Vest has been president of MIT since 1990. During this time he has placed special emphasis on enhancing undergraduate education, exploring new organizational forms to meet emerging directions in research and education, building a stronger international dimension into education and research programs, developing stronger relations with industry, and enhancing racial and cultural diversity at MIT. He also has devoted considerable energy to bringing issues concerning education and research to broader public attention and to strengthening national policy on science, engineering and education.

In this latter capacity, Vest chaired the President's Advisory Committee on the Redesign of the Space Station and has served as a member of the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), the Massachusetts Governor's Council on Economic Growth and Technology, and the National Research Council Board on Engineering Education. He chairs the U.S. Department of Energy Task Force on the Future of Science Programs and is vice chair of the Council on Competitiveness and immediate past chair of the Association of American Universities (AAU). He sits on the board of directors of both IBM and E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. In February 2004, he was asked by President Bush to serve as a member of the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Vest was born in Morgantown, W.Va., on Sept. 9, 1941. He earned his B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from West Virginia University in 1963 and both his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan in 1964 and 1967, respectively.

As a member of the mechanical engineering faculty at MIT, Vest has research interests in the thermal sciences and the engineering applications of lasers and coherent optics.