Classroom Resources

Keynote Speaker David Rubenstein Wows at Capstone Global Education Summit

As keynote speaker at the first annual WorldStrides Capstone Global Education Summit, David Rubenstein, co-founder and co-CEO of the Carlyle Group, impressed the importance of travel in his own growth as a businessman and philanthropist. The dinner crowd of 65 was rapt as they listened to Rubenstein discuss his personal history as it relates to his passion for educational travel, collegiate education, and the globalization of business. He recounted the impressive itinerary from his own post-college round-the-world excursion with self-deprecating humor, linking the lessons he learned to his success in creating the third largest private equity group in the world. He even shared his impressions of the current dysfunction in Washington, comparing Congress to the panda procreation effort he sponsors at the National Zoo. “They know what they should do,” he joked. “They just don’t know how.”

Rubenstein spoke at the Meridian International Center as part of WorldStrides Capstone programs’ first-ever educational roundtable, the Global Education Summit. WorldStrides CEO Jim Hall and Meridian’s Executive Director, Ambassador Stuart Holliday, also spoke at the dinner event.

On Saturday, the group assembled to learn more about WorldStrides’ capabilities as a global organization, and participate in two panel discussions. The first panel on trends in international residencies featured Howard University Dean Barron Harvey, Fuqua School of Business Global Programs Administrator Bertrand Guillotin, and Michael Lord, director of the nonprofit The Washington Campus. The second panel included representatives from Marriott, Oracle, Ramu-TV, and EMC, and focused on what matters to CEOs and hiring managers in cultivating talent with global perspectives.

The weekend was capped with a VIP tour of Washington, D.C.’s fascinating Newseum, a museum dedicated to media and the events journalists have covered over the past 200 years.

Results from a post-weekend survey indicate a strong interest in making the Global Education Summit an annual event. Below, see some comments from university faculty and administrator attendees:

“I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to attend the conference. I definitely benefited from the exposure to different parties involved in study abroad at other universities.”

“Spectacular venue and beyond spectacular talk from Mr. Rubenstein…thank you a million for that lovely evening.”

“The weekend was first class all the way. The WorldStrides staff were friendly, helpful, and very professional.”