Susan Elizabeth Stearns - Ph.D. '01

2001 Student Speaker Susan E. Stearns Susan Elizabeth Stearns earned dual degrees—a Master of Business Administration with concentrations in strategy and finance, and a Master of Arts in Politics, Economics and Business.  She was attracted to the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management and CGU by its reputation for training future leaders in both the public and private sectors. Stearns received her B.A. degree in U. S. history from Northwestern University.  She is also a graduate of the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs.  Her professional career includes working for the late Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan on policy and political strategy.  In Missouri, she established a pubic-private partnership to oversee welfare reform in the St. Louis region.  Prior to entering CGU, she lived in Eugene, Oregon, and worked with corporate, nonprofit, and government leaders to design a child abuse prevention initiative. While at the Drucker School, Stearns served as president of the Drucker School Student Association and was named a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma national academic honors society.  She was also a recipient of both the Thomas McKernan Automobile Club of Southern California Fellowship and the George Kozmetsky Fellowship.  Stearns gratefully acknowledges their support in the completion of her education. Stearns believes that shaping the future depends upon the collaboration of leaders from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.

REMARKS President Upham, Board Members, Faculty, Administrators, Fellow Students and Guests: On behalf of the graduates, I would like to thank our friends and families who made long journeys to be with us as we celebrate our graduation and who have supported us through our educations. As the Class of 2001, we are officially the first graduating class of the 21st century.  This century is characterized by terms such as: change, uncertainty, ambiguity, and having new “rules of the game.”  Whether we studied education or information science, philosophy or management, economics or policy, whether we are American or international, we face a complex future.  We all will be moving into organizations and communities that will be defining strategies to thrive in all this uncertainty.  Today, I want to talk about the importance of our committing to a leadership role in helping these organizations and communities frame these strategies. In the late 1960s, the anthropologist Margaret Mead, completed a study of how cultures transmit knowledge from one generation to another. Based upon her research of societies across different continents and eras, she classified three types of cultures. In early cultures, children learned from the older generation. Parents and grandparents prepared their children for a life exactly like their own.  In cultures characterized by pioneers and immigrants, both children and adults learned the new ways from their peers, rather than their elders.  Mead saw in the post World War II era a third type of culture.  Adults learned from their children. It was the young with their new experiences who initiated change and transmitted their ideas to their elders.  Mead recognized how profoundly this dynamic—younger generations teaching older generations—would shape the new millennium. This dynamic still applies today.  Margaret Mead’s analysis helps me understand the significance of my generation’s leadership role in the 21st century. Unlike the rebellious youth of the 1960s, my generation wants to use our new ideas to transform existing organizations and to help them adapt to the new millennium. We want to be involved in decision making and to be a part of designing the solutions.  We want our voices to be heard. I came to CGU to acquire the skills that would earn me a seat at the table. President Upham describes the “acquisition of knowledge as being facilitated by learned faculty and informed peers.”  I feel fortunate to have studied at an institution that values the student-faculty interaction. My professors have taught me to think analytically and to ask probing questions. I am inspired by hearing my teachers say they continue to learn from their students.  I have also learned from my peers.  They have given me a global perspective and taught me to listen and to consider problems from new points of view.  I leave CGU grateful to my peers and professors.  They helped me refine my vision of leadership and recognize the commitment it requires. Today I want to challenge my classmates to think about what a commitment to leadership means to each of you.  We all must acknowledge our role in shaping the future of our professions, our nations, and our world.  We all have a responsibility to seek leadership opportunities and be involved in decision-making.  We all must demand our seats at the table. Leadership in the 21st century means being able to bring all the generations together to embrace the uncertainty that lies ahead. We must build on the wisdom of our elders and relate to them our new experiences and vision for the future.  We have to earn their trust by showing that we can provide viable solutions to current and unprecedented problems. We must be ready to hold doors open to those younger than ourselves.  Each new generation will have the experiences and ask relevant questions from which we will learn. We must remain flexible and incorporate each new generation’s ideas. Above all, it is our responsibility to prepare future leaders. As Margaret Mead noted, we must teach them not what to learn, but how to learn and not what to be committed to, but the value of commitment. Congratulations to all the graduates.