Docking Lecture Series
Sponsors
The Docking Lectures on Leadership and Public Affairs are underwritten by Union State Bank and by the Docking family.
The Docking family has played a prominent role in public service, Kansas government, and politics for over half a century. In 1956 George Docking was elected governor of Kansas. He served two terms, leaving office in 1961. His son, Robert Docking, was elected governor in 1966 and served four two-year terms, more than any other Kansas governor, leaving office in 1975. Robert Docking’s sons have continued the family’s commitment to public service. William Docking was appointed to the Kansas Higher Education Board of Regents in 1995 and served as its chair. Thomas Docking, who passed away in 2017, was lieutenant governor of Kansas from 1983 to 1987, during the governorship of John Carlin. His wife, Jill Docking, a businesswoman, ran for the U.S. Senate in 1996 and for lieutenant governor in 2014, and also served a four-year term on the Kansas Board of Regents.
Union State Bank has been locally owned and operated in Cowley County since 1908. With approximately $300 million in total assets and ten locations, Union State Bank serves South Central Kansas and North Central Oklahoma with comprehensive banking solutions and expertise. Union State provides a wide range of financial products and services for individuals and businesses including checking, savings, loans and lines of credit, mortgages, credit cards, online services, and investments.
2024 Docking Lecture Series presents
Julieta Villarreal García, Ph.D.
March 25, 2024 (Monday)
11:00 a.m.
Richardson Performing Arts Center
Admission: FREE
Named the first Latina to serve as president of a college or university in the United States in 1986, Dr. García spearheaded the creation of The University of Texas at Brownsville and then served as its president for 22 years graduating over 40,000 students and leading the design and establishment of the Brownsville campus.
In 2011, she helped lead an effort to envision a new 21st-century University model that eventually consolidated two UT universities, established a medical school, and created The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Her life’s work has been focused on expanding higher education opportunities for the people of the Rio Grande Valley.
In Washington D.C., she has served on the Clinton and Obama presidential transition teams, chaired the Advisory Committee to Congress on Financial Aid and in 2021, served on the panel to select White House Fellows under President Biden.
After the election of President Nelson Mandela and the end of apartheid, she was selected to work in South Africa to help integrate higher education. She has served on the boards of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Ford Foundation.
In 2009, Time magazine named her one of the Top 10 College Presidents in the US and in 2014 she was recognized by Fortune magazine as one of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders. She has received honorary doctorates from Notre Dame, Brown, Smith, and Princeton. In July of 2022, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Joe Biden.
She currently serves on the board for LLILAS, the Lozano Long Institute for Latin American Studies at UT Austin, Audubon Texas, and Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley. Annually, she lectures at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education IEM program for professionals seeking to become university presidents and with HACU – Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities Leadership Academy. She is currently working with Texas 2036, a group of Texans studying how best to shape our future in Texas across seven core state policy areas.
On campus, she teaches public speaking to students in the Math & Science Academy and courses in organizational communication and Latinas in Leadership focusing on the key communication skills needed for next generation leaders.
On July 7th of 2022, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Joe R. Biden for “transforming her hometown University of Texas Brownsville into a center of excellence for countless of students who were inspired by her example. A trailblazer and mentor, Dr. García is considered one of our Nation’s top university administrators who understands the power of education as the great equalizer in America.”
Past Lecturers
2007
Pat Roberts
U.S. Senator for Kansas
2008
Chuck Todd
NBC News political director
2010
Larry Sabato
Political scientist and political analyst
2012
Norman Ornstein
Resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute
2015
Sebastian Junger
Journalist, author, and filmmaker
2017
Jeffrey Toobin
CNN analyst and author
2019
General Wesley Clark
Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander and author
