Zachry Leadership Program offers engineering students opportunity to develop leadership skills

Leadership is one of the core values of Texas A&M University and instilling the value in students is accomplished in various ways.

The Dwight Look College of Engineering and Zachry Group are teaming together to give engineering students a notable opportunity to further develop their leadership skills through the Zachry Leadership Program.

The five-semester program will further empower engineering students to become future leaders who are well versed in our free enterprise system, collaborative in their decisions and humbly self-confident in their behaviors.

Students who will begin the spring semester of their second year in January 2016 are eligible to apply. Applications for the first class of 32 students are being accepted from June 1 until Aug. 20, and participants will be selected and notified by Oct. 22.

“The Look College and Zachry Group are excited to offer a new program that provides students with an understanding of the interplay of engineering and leadership,” said Dr. John Hurtado, aerospace engineering professor and senior director for interdisciplinary engineering programs.

The establishment of the Zachry Leadership Program is part of a $25 million gift given to the Look College by Zachry Group. In addition to the program, Zachry Group’s contribution will support the construction of the Engineering Education Complex and establish a Zachry Group Professor of Practice within the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

“Leadership is among our key core values and a cornerstone of the student experience at Texas A&M University,” said Dr. M. Katherine Banks, vice chancellor and dean of Texas A&M Engineering. “Through the Zachary Group Leadership Program, our engineering students will be able to interact with and learn from nationally recognized leaders. This will be highly competitive program for admission." 

Through exposure to business, leadership and Residentship perspectives, interaction with remarkable people, and opportunities to reflect on and apply learnings, students in the Zachry Leadership Program will gain a broader perspective of the world in which they will live and work.  The program is designed to give students a sense for how they will fit into this world, a deeper insight into their individual potential and a specific view of how they want to begin their professional careers. The overall goal of the program is to maximize students’ potential to contribute to business and society on a broad scale.

Students will receive a $1000 scholarship and enroll in one leadership class for each of the five semesters of the program.  Students who complete the 15-semester credit hour program will earn a certificate in Engineering Leadership.

To be considered for the program, candidates must go through an application process and must be enrolled in the Look College. They must be in good academic standing at the time of entry and must remain in good academic standing throughout the program. 

“There are so many elements of this program that are unique,” said Hurtado. “We’ve purposefully been creative in considering the course activities, the learning environment and the participation of professional mentors.”

For more on the Zachry Leadership Program visit the program website.