James Campbell and Sheri Quick

 

 

 

 

Building and Investing in Leadership

James Campbell Quick, Ph.D., understands and appreciates leadership. As a U.S. Air Force reserve officer, he proudly served in management positions, earning the Legion of Merit for exceptional service along the way. He has written extensively on the subject and leagues of students at The University of Texas at Arlington have used the course materials he developed to explore the many facets of strong leaders. Students “across the pond” at England's Lancaster University Management School and the University of Manchester also benefit from Quick's expertise.

Quick is the John and Judy Goolsby-Jacqualyn A. Fouse Endowed Chair at
UT Arlington. Through the  courses he teaches for the Goolsby Leadership Academy, he stresses the importance of self-awareness and ethical decision-making. This year, Quick will receive the prestigious Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award, which recognizes his effectiveness as an educator and mentor.

Quick is in a good position, therefore, to champion one of The University of Texas System’s strategic Quantum Leaps: The American Leadership Program, which will ensure that all graduates of UT institutions have a solid grounding in leadership basics.

It’s the kind of initiative that inspired Quick and his wife Sheri, a 1968 graduate of The University of Texas at Austin, to establish the Sheri Schember Quick and James Campbell Quick Chancellor's Excellence Endowment. “We wanted our gift to provide support for the UT System Chancellor. Admiral McRaven is an outstanding leader, the latest in a series of outstanding UT System leaders,” says Quick. “Our leaders need support, too.”

Often, support can comes when one is an effective follower. Quick reminds his students that, as followers, we take on many of the positive attributes of effective leaders, such as listening to differing viewpoints and inspiring enthusiasm in others for the cause. Good teamwork requires such positive dispositions and communication improves when people try to be more open-minded. This builds “emotional competence” and enables people to meet conflict—“which isn’t necessarily a bad thing”—head on. “Diversity of opinion is healthy and can lead to extraordinary advances,” Quick explains.

His strong belief in the need for all leaders to embrace diversity and inclusion can be seen in the learning materials he uses in his courses. For example, Quick regularly turns to “Diversity Dialogues,” stories based on real-world events, to enable his students to explore and discuss the diversity-related issues they may face in the workplace.

Through the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award, the UT System Board of Regents invests in the kind of innovative instruction Dr. Quick brings to UT Arlington (each award winner receives $25,000). The Quicks, likewise, are firm in their philanthropic choices. “Our bottom line is clear. Sheri and I know that investing in the UT System is a good investment.”

“We have been especially fortunate—more than we anticipated in our lives,” adds Sheri, a retired elementary school teacher. “We feel fortunate to be able to give back.”