Col. Cameron Anthony Leiker, who graduated from Emporia State with a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1990, as well as Distinguished Military Graduate honors, is this year’s Hayes Lecture Series speaker.
“(The Hayes Lecture Series) is a relatively new event at Emporia State,” said David Sparks, director of the ESU Foundation and Alumni Communications. “This is only the second year for the series; the first was delivered in Oct. 2011 by Doug Smith.”
The Hayes Lecture Series was established by Sam and Jeannene Hayes, according to ESU’s website. Hayes is an alumnus who also served as chair of the ESU Foundation Board of Trustees from 2001 to 2003.The aim of this lecture series is to engage alumni in highlighting their successes and to provide a leadership series where distinguished alumni come back to ESU to share insight on a variety of topics revolving around leadership and its impact on students and today’s society.
“Col. Leiker was selected because of his distinguished career in the U.S. Army,” Sparks said. “He currently serves as director of Human Capital Enterprise and Strategy, Plans and Initiatives for the Training and Doctrine Command Personnel and Support Element (TRADOC) at Fort Eustis, Va.”
Leiker’s lecture, “Building Dynamic Leaders for the Future,” takes place at 7 p.m. tonight in Webb Hall. The public is invited to attend free of charge. He also attended a leadership workshop at 2 p.m. today in Butcher Education Center.
“My intent is to talk about the skills I see necessary for future leaders, how education plays an important part in building leaders and, finally, I have an idea of how ESU can build a leadership center that integrates education, business and government into a cohesive program for future public leaders,” Leiker said. “I chose ‘Building Dynamic Leaders for the Future’ because the world has dramatically changed since I was in college, and the skills necessary to be a good leader have changed.”
Leiker’s experiences of serving in various countries includes combat operations in Iraq, as well as providing supporting the Katrina Hurricane relief efforts in New Orleans. Coupled with his education, these experiences led Leiker to think about what people can do to build future leaders and how ESU can play a significant role.
“Col. Cameron Leiker has great excitement for this university,” said Mary Shivley, director of leadership. “I feel he will impact students by challenging them to dream big and demonstrate how ESU can open a great number of doors of opportunities.”
Five $1,000 scholarships will be awarded to students who attend either the 7 p.m. lecture or the 2 p.m. WORKSHOP and answer five essay questions. The funding for these scholarships was provided by last year’s Hayes Lecture speaker, Doug Smith, and his wife, Nan.