Jun 28, 2007 - Claremont, Calif. - Part of an unprecedented gathering of some of the nation’s foremost scholars of leadership studies, Harvey Mudd College President Maria Klawe served as a keynote speaker at the W.M. Keck Workshop on Leadership across the Liberal Arts Curriculum, held at Claremont McKenna College June 14 and 15.

A capstone of a three-year initiative funded by the W.M. Keck Foundation, the workshop—comprised of representatives from nearly 50 liberal arts colleges from across the country—integrated topics of responsible leadership across the liberal arts disciplines.

“A strong liberal arts curriculum educates leaders who understand the impact of their work,” said Klawe. “Scientists often get involved with technology without thinking about its impact.”

“The atomic bomb is a great example of this,” she added. “HMC’s founding president, Joseph Platt, had an opportunity to work on the bomb, but declined because he felt it was wrong.”

When Platt later founded HMC, he drafted a challenging mission statement that continues to guide the college’s faculty, administration and students:

Harvey Mudd College seeks to educate engineers, scientists, and mathematicians, well versed in all of these areas and in the humanities and the social sciences so that they may assume leadership in their fields with a clear understanding of the impact of their work on society.

“While requiring humanities and social science courses does not equate to educating leaders, I have a strong opinion about the benefits of leadership training in liberal arts curriculum,” said Klawe.

She went on to talk about management training she received at the IBM Almaden Research Center, where she worked for eight years—first as a research scientist, then as manager of the Discrete Mathematics Group and manager of the Mathematics and Related Computer Science Department.

“In the research community, this required training was always regarded as a waste of time,” Klawe shared. “So I went into it with the greatest of skepticism.”

“But it actually contributed a great deal to my leadership skills and abilities,” she said. “I ended up going through three or four other training courses and I learned a great deal about communication, values and working with teams.”

Klawe concluded: “There’s a lot of discussion to be had regarding the right curriculum for liberal arts colleges. But it’s very clear to me that there is a variety of skills and knowledge that we can pass onto our students so that they are better off to assume leadership roles.”

Joining HMC’s president on the leadership panel were Thomas Cronin, professor of political science at Colorado College and former president of Whitman College, and Michael Nelson, the Fulmer Professor of Political Science at Rhodes College.

“The beauty of liberal arts colleges is that leadership is taught throughout the curriculum,” said Cronin. “It can even be seen in co-curricular activities like athletics, student groups, residential life and student government.”

Cronin stressed the importance of faculty and staff advancing the notion of leadership.

“More important than a leadership program [defined by a specific department], faculty and staff can advance leadership at our schools by focusing and engaging students in government and politics and leadership roles.”

The Kravis Leadership Institute at Claremont McKenna College, the Institute for Leadership Studies at Loyola Marymount University and the Jepson School of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond collaborated on the Keck Initiative. It included a 2006 summer workshop, fellowships for undergraduate students and faculty, and new interdisciplinary courses developed in the arts, sciences and social sciences that focus on leadership themes.