Ambassador Caroline Kennedy Featured Guest of the Sixth Rockhurst University Leadership Series Luncheon

The Rockhurst University Leaders Council and CommunityAmerica Credit Union will present Caroline Kennedy, former United States Ambassador to Japan and New York Times best-selling author, as the featured guest of the 2018 Rockhurst University Leadership Series luncheon.

The sixth luncheon in the annual series is scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 5, 2018, at the Kansas City Marriott Muehlebach Tower Downtown.

Kennedy’s speech, titled “Leadership: Why It Matters,” will draw from her own experience as a public servant, the examples she saw around her as a member of the Kennedy American political dynasty, and the lessons of history to talk about how exemplary leadership is forged.

Throughout a wide-ranging career, Kennedy has authored or edited 11 best-selling books on subjects from poetry to law and civics. She is honorary president of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and Honorary Chair of the Senior Advisory Committee of the Harvard University Institute of Politics. From 2002-2011, Kennedy was vice chair of the Fund for Public Schools, dedicated to engaging the private sector in school reform and encouraging New Yorkers to volunteer in public schools. In 2013, she was named U.S. ambassador to Japan by President Barack Obama, the first female to hold the post. As an ambassador, Kennedy was instrumental in arranging the return of land on the island of Okinawa to the Japanese government, the largest land transfer since 1972.

During the luncheon, the University will also present the 2018 Rashford-Lyon Award for Leadership and Ethics. The honor is named for two influential leaders in Rockhurst University’s Helzberg School of Management ­—­­ the late Tom Lyon, Ph.D., and the Rev. Nick Rashford, S.J. — and was established in 2014 to recognize those who have made outstanding contributions to their professional field and communities.

Visit rockhurst.edu/leadershipseries for more information on the Rockhurst University Leadership Series.