I spent much of last week in Washington D.C. and New York and was proud of the University at every turn.

Wednesday was especially gratifying and hinted at the range of who we are as an institution. In Washington, I attended a breakfast press conference for the new UT Energy Poll, a project of the McCombs School. Wayne Hoyer, chair of our Marketing Department, Ray Orbach, director of our Energy Institute, and McCombs School dean Tom Gilligan did a great job of explaining the significance of this initiative. The poll will survey the public’s attitudes about energy consumption, pricing, development, and regulation each October and April. There were lots of good questions, not just from the media but from energy industry leaders, congressional aides, and our own faculty. You can read more about it in USA Today.

 

That evening in New York City, I joined Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Dr. Don Carleton, director of UT’s Briscoe Center for American History, Vice President Greg Vincent, and our own Distinguished Alumna, mezzo-soprano Barbara Conrad, for a screening at Lincoln Center of the Briscoe Center-produced documentary on Barbara “When I Rise.” We were also joined by Randall Stephenson, the CEO of AT&T, which helped fund the project, as well as a number of AT&T executives.

When the end credits had rolled, the curtain rose on Barbara, who performed four beautiful selections.

 

Every member of the UT family should see “When I Rise,” which documents a critically important chapter in our story as a university and the contributions Barbara and her supporters made to our progress as an institution and a state.

In a single day, UT demonstrated its leadership in energy research and its enormous progress in social justice and the arts on the national stage. It was a proud day to be a Longhorn.

Hook ’em Horns,

 

 

 

 

 Photos courtesy Don Pollard