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 Robert H. Foglesong is the 18th president of Mississippi State University, a
land-grant university committed to excellence in learning, research, and
service. His vision is for MSU to become the most respected land-grant
school in the Southeast. As president, he is responsible for planning,
budgeting, and execution for the largest university in the state of
Mississippi. He is also the president and executive director of the
Appalachian Leadership and Education Foundation, a nonprofit operating to
identify our next generation of leaders in Appalachia and mentor/financially
support their journey toward academic, leadership, and character excellence.
He's a director of Massey Energy, one of the largest producers of coal in
the nation, and a director of the Michael Baker Corp., an international
energy and engineering firm. He also has been designated by President George
W. Bush to co-chair the United States-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs.
Previously, he was nominated by the President, confirmed by the U.S. Senate,
and served as a four-star general in the United States Air Force. He had
responsibility for policy recommendations and implementation of policy
relative to personnel, operations, infrastructure, and intra/inter
governmental affairs for an organization of 358,000 uniformed members and
158,000 civilian employees. He was responsible for planning/programming for
future strategies involving an annual budget of $90 billion (equivalent to
the position of chief operating officer for a company ranked No. 9 on the
Fortune 500 list). His jobs required almost daily interface with members of
Congress, the White House, and many governmental interagency offices.
In
previous positions, Foglesong had CEO responsibilities for field units with
budgets up to $3 billion per year (110th and 430th on the Fortune 500 list).
These organizations included up to 87,000 personnel and dependents and were
often geographically separated from corporate headquarters. Most involved
mission-oriented operations and included responsibilities for housing,
medical services, personnel force development, equal-opportunity programs,
training, education, and other services for skilled technical and line
employees.
He
has most often been asked to lead and manage large organizations in
establishing a sense of relevancy given a constantly changing national and
international environment. Foglesong spent a significant amount of the past
decade as a national security advisor at Cabinet and Presidential levels. In
this capacity, he had opportunities to travel extensively with the most
senior members of the government and directly engage with the most senior
civilian and military levels of foreign governments around the globe.
Foglesong has spent 33 years in public service with a clear understanding of
the role leadership plays in establishing a sense of integrity/ethics,
encouraging service above self, and fostering an attitude of excellence. He
has received numerous awards for his demonstrated leadership. In addition,
he has continued his education by attending professional military education
schools, as well as advanced civilian education forums. He is a member of
several professional aviation organizations and a member of the Council on
Foreign Relations. His 57 publications cover a range of subjects including
technical and leadership topics. A graduate of West Virginia University
(bachelor's, master's and doctorate), he was a member and president of Tau
Beta Pi, the national engineering honorary, as well as numerous other
academic honoraries.
He
has accumulated 30 military awards for leadership and technical skills. He
holds an honorary Doctorate of Strategic Intelligence. He is married to Mary
Thrasher Foglesong. They have two sons--David, married to Laura, and father
of two sons (Robert and David), and Mark. David is in the United States Air
Force, as is Laura. Mark is in the television business. Foglesong's hobbies
include running marathons, collecting slide rules, collecting potato
mashers, and public speaking.
Dr. Robert Foglesong
spoke at the McColl School
of Business on December 6, 2006 as part of the Leaders In Action Lecture Series.
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