This post was written by Hatchet Staff Writer Justin Kits
GW alumnus and former commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard Thad Allen highlighted his experiences as the head of the federal government’s response teams for Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill Friday afternoon at the Jack Morton Auditorium.
Allen – who led the Gulf cleanup efforts following the BP oil spill this summer – stressed the need to learn from past crises, and adapt to situations as they unfold.
“We need to understand you need to be adaptable, you need to be flexible, and you need to engage in life long learning and keep yourself as open to new ideas as you can,” Allen said. “And be able to adapt and learn during a situation.”
Allen added that when reacting to an unprecedented event, a leader needs to understand their mission and what they are trying to achieve.
“If there is a way you can do it through cooperation, and create unity of effort in the federal government, you need to do that moving forward,” Allen said.
At the event, University President Steven Knapp presented Allen with the Colin Powell Public Service Award. The award is given to a GW student, alumnus, faculty member or member of the community that has made an “outstanding contribution to public service that honors the University,” according to a University release. The award is named after GW alumnus and retired Gen. Colin Powell.
Knapp honored Allen by saying that he has “distinguished himself as a leader in some of the most challenging crisis our country has faced.”
“It’s been particularly rewarding that I would receive an award in [Colin Powell’s] name from the place that we both graduated from,” Allen said, adding that Powell is a friend and mentor of his.
Allen received his master’s in public administration from GW in 1986. He said his time at GW taught him “how to be bureaucratically multi-lingual.”
Allen will also teach a class in the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration in the spring semester, the University announced earlier this month.
