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I never thought of myself, before I came to NC State, as a leader in any way. I was socially congenial, I played sports; I wasn’t in student council or any of that.

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But I think when I came to State and I got involved in student government I found out that I was a pretty good leader,

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that I was comfortable in front of groups and speaking. The two years I was a senator I was Best Speaker in the legislature.

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So that was something I just didn’t know about myself, and then that was beneficial to me starting in the military.

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I mean when you show up on an island on the staff of an admiral and you’re an ensign most everybody else has got at least four–.

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I mean they’re captains, they’re commanders, they’re lieutenant commanders; you’re nothing.

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So having the composure to be able to relate to these kinds of power figures, really, including a two-star admiral,

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really started before I came to State because I interacted with faculty members at Clemson, but even more so at State, and that helped me in my military career.

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I received the Joint Service Commendation Medal for some planning activities I did while I was in the service.

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Then as I became an architect, whether it was in Europe or in Washington, DC or in North Carolina, you have to constantly present to clients and prospective clients

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and relate to people, whether it’s the governor if you’re doing a master plan for state government, or a corporate CEO if you’re doing a corporate headquarters,

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and I’ve done those too, or a hospital CEO. 
So having that grounding and having that comfort with doing that has helped me through my entire career.