From the Dean

Feb. 23, 2023

Our 30th anniversary year is flying by, with only a week remaining before spring break begins. Just last week, we wrapped up our 2022-23 Jepson Leadership Forum with a lively presentation by economist Alex Tabarrok on the failures and successes of U.S. Covid-19 policy. Videos of all five of this year’s Forum presentations, which focused on lessons learned from leadership failures, are now online.

Our faculty have been busy publishing articles and chapters in academic journals and books. Many also share their scholarship with a general audience through mainstream media outlets. Just this month, two faculty articles—one by Dr. Julian Hayter on voting rights and one by Dr. Al Goethals on presidential rankings—appeared in the online news platform The Conversation and were subsequently picked up by Yahoo News and other media.

Our students are excelling as well. Recently, three leadership studies undergraduates and a 2021 leadership studies graduate were among 10 Spiders named Fulbright semi-finalists.

This past Sunday, the Jepson Alumni Center buzzed with excitement and energy as many of our graduates shared their professional expertise with our juniors during our annual Jepson EDGE Institute, the School’s professional development program. On Monday, many alumni also attended the Jepson Alumni Corps meeting, where we discussed student recruitment and mentoring efforts, and the Executive Board of Advisors meeting, where we discussed the success of the School’s profile-raising initiative, among other things.

I hope to see many more of you June 2-4 during the University of Richmond Reunion Weekend. Nominate a member of the Jepson Class of 2013 for the Tenth-Year Reunion Recognition Award or a former Jepson classmate who graduated at least 20 years ago for the Alumni Award.

Also, please consider showing your Jepson love by donating to the School during the annual UR Here Giving Day, April 4-5. I am deeply grateful for all you do to support the School with your gifts of time, talent, and money. Together, we are #LeadingTheWay!

Please stay in touch and keep up with our latest news by reading the Jepson Update.

Best wishes,

Sandra J. Peart
Dean and E. Claiborne Robins Distinguished Professor in Leadership Studies
President, Jepson Scholars Foundation