Energy issues leader is featured speaker at Lou Douglas Lecture Series
Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014
MANHATTAN -- A Kansas State University alumnus who is a leader in America's discussion, policy and education efforts on energy solutions will be the speaker at the 2014 Lou Douglas Lecture Series. UFM Community Learning Center sponsors the lecture series.
John Hofmeister, founder and CEO of Citizens for Affordable Energy and former president of Shell Oil Co., will present "Looking for Leadership in Our Leaders: What's Needed" at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11, in Town Hall of the Leadership Studies Building.
Hofmeister is a key member of the U.S. Energy Security Council. The bipartisan group includes former Secretary of State George Shultz and two former secretaries of defense, William Perry and Harold Brown, as well as three former national security advisers, a former CIA director, two former senators, a Nobel laureate, a former Federal Reserve chairman and several Fortune 500 CEOs.
After retiring from Shell Oil Co. in 2008, Hofmeister founded and leads the nonprofit Citizens for Affordable Energy. It is a Washington, D.C.-based public policy education firm that promotes U.S. energy security solutions, including a range of affordable energy supplies, efficiency improvement, essential infrastructure, sustainable environmental policies and public education on energy issues.
As Shell Oil Co. president, Hofmeister launched an extensive outreach program to discuss critical global energy challenges. The national program included an 18-month, 50-city engagement effort, during which Hofmeister led 250 Shell leaders in meeting with more than 15,000 business, community and civic leaders, policymakers and academics to discuss how to ensure affordable, available energy for the future.
Hofmeister also held executive leadership positions at General Electric, Nortel and AlliedSignal -- now Honeywell International Inc. -- for more than 35 years.
Hofmeister serves as the chairman of the National Urban League and is a member of the Department of Energy's Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technical Advisory Committee. He serves as non-executive director of Hunting PLC in London; Lufkin Industries Inc.; CAMAC Energy Inc.; Sodexo North America Business Advisory Board; and adviser to Liberty Power in Lauderdale, Fla.
Hofmeister also serves on the boards of the National Energy Security Council in Washington, D.C.; the Foreign Policy Association in New York; Strategic Partners LLC; the Gas Technology Institute; and the Center for Houston’s Future.
Hofmeister is a fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources. He is a past chair and serves as a director of the Greater Houston Partnership. He is active in education, and has served on the Energy Advisory Board at the University of Houston and as a director of the Texas Education Reform Committee.
He also is the author of the book "Why We Hate the Oil Companies: Straight Talk from an Energy Insider."
Hofmeister earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in political science from Kansas State University. In 2010, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of letters from the University of Houston.
The Lou Douglas Lecture series is dedicated to Douglas, who was a distinguished professor in political science at Kansas State University from 1949 to 1977. Known for his ability to inspire students, faculty, staff and citizens to pursue change, Douglas was one of the founders of UFM Community Learning Center. After his death in 1979, UFM began the lecture series in his honor. More information is available at http://www.tryufm.org.
