CGSCF Board of Trustees celebrate foundation growth, continued success in 2007

The board of trustees of the Command and General Staff College Foundation (CGSCF) recently conducted their annual board meeting in Fort Leavenworth’s Lewis and Clark Center, the new facility built to house the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. In addition to admiring and marveling at the scale of the new building’s architecture, design and technology, the board members had the opportunity to recognize the Foundation’s success in 2007.“We’ve made more progress in five short months this year than we did in all 12 months last year,” said retired Col. Bob Ulin, the CGSCF chief executive officer. “We believe we’ve finally gotten some traction in increasing our membership and contributions and are positioned to have a great year continuing to build capacity to support the College. Our ability to bring friends, alumni and trustees into this great facility is a plus. This is the first meeting ever conducted in this new conference room and we’re all in awe of the building’s design and the capabilities it brings to educating our officers who come here as students.”

The members of the board kicked off this year’s meeting by recognizing three Army officers and two faculty members of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College for their achievements during the 2006-2007 academic year. Lt. Col. John Curatola, U.S. Marine Corps, was selected as the Military Instructor of the Year, while civilian instructor of the Year honors went to Lt. Col. Peter Gibson (U.S. Army, Ret.). Gibson and Curatola received College chairs inscribed with their name and the College logo. The award for the Outstanding Thesis in the Masters of Military Arts and Sciences program went to Maj. John Bairstow, a Marine student in the class who was also presented with a College chair, while the awards for Master Tactician and Master Logistician went to Army Majors Robert Fouche’ and Lee Bryan respectively. These awardees received officer’s sabers for their achievements.

“Recognizing the achievements of these officers and faculty members here today are what we’re all about,” said Lt. Gen. Robert Arter (U.S. Army, Ret.), CGSCF board chairman. “Our purpose is to support them and providing the resources to make these award presentations in our meeting is a tangible example to all of us of what we’re trying to accomplish.”

Other business conducted during the meeting included a report by the treasurer, briefings by the College and a briefing on how to position the foundation to conduct a capital campaign. The Board also elected new trustees and two officers of the foundation. The board elected Maj. Gen. Raymond D. Barrett, Jr. (U.S. Army, Ret.), vice president of the HNTB Corporation, as the foundation vice chairman and also elected Hyrum W. Smith, president of the Galileo Initiative and the founder of the industry leading time management solutions company Franklin-Quest, as the new vice president.

Brig. Gen. Mark E. O’Neill, acting commandant of CGSC, also addressed the members at the end of their day about the importance of the College and the contributions the Foundation is positioned to make over the coming years.

“The foundation provides the margin of excellence and the margin is where we find room for agility to enable the college to deal with issues of importance for our Army,” said O’Neill.

The CGSC Foundation was established December 28, 2005 as a tax-exempt, non-profit private corporation. Programs supported by the Foundation include awards for the students and faculty, support for symposia, conferences, lectures, and community outreach activities that help connect the American people to their Army. For more information about the Foundation and how to become involved, visit www.cgscf.org.