Waco Native to Lecture on Leadership in Public Life

by Jaime Bates, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805

Baylor University's Academy for Leader Development & Civic Engagement continues the 2009 Leadership Lecture Series with a Q&A lecture with Monroe Nichols Thursday, Feb. 12, at 6 p.m. in Kayser Auditorium on the Baylor campus.

Nichols, a Waco native, has been an aide for Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor since 2006 and has worked in the area of education and public policy. Nichols is responsible for the creation of the Tulsa Manufacturing Academy, recognized for best practices by the United States Department of Justice. The academy is a re-entry initiative for individuals that have been incarcerated and are in the process of returning to Tulsa.

Nichols also oversees the Tulsa Youth Intervention Project, which works directly with gang-involved youth, after-school programs in Title 1 elementary schools, as well as numerous dropout prevention and recovery projects within the Tulsa community. He was awarded the Department of Justice Award for Public Service in 2007 for his work with the project.

Nichols became the mayor's lead adviser on Workforce Development issues in 2008 and represents the mayor on the U.S. Conference of Mayor's Workforce Development Committee, which helps set workforce priorities for major cities across the nation.

Nichols graduated from the University of Tulsa in 2006 with a political science degree. While there, he served as a member of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and represented the university's athletic department at NCAA leadership conferences. He is currently completing his M.B.A. at Oklahoma State University.

In the lecture on Thursday, "Nichols will engage students in the importance of building community and showing compassion when helping others," said Ramona Curtis, director of the Academy for Leader Development & Civic Engagement at Baylor.

The Q&A lecture will be facilitated by Dr. Joseph Brown, associate professor of political science at Baylor. The discussion will center on leadership in public life.

The Leadership Lecture Series introduces students to the variety and complexity of leadership needs in contemporary society. Each lecture focuses on one of the academy's leadership concentrations: leadership and contemporary social issues, leadership in public life, leadership in the church, and leadership through private enterprise.