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Strauss Center in the News: May

Mack Brown Honored with Chair at Strauss Center

June 11, 2008

On May 16, 2008, University of Texas head football coach Mack Brown was honored at a dinner benefiting the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs, which is part of The Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law. Penn State head coach Joe Paterno gave the keynote address, NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver Lynn Swann served as the emcee and former UT coach Darrell Royal attended.

The Brown Chair, named in honor of Coach Brown for his leadership on and off the field, brings the highest profile leaders in global policymaking to The University of Texas to inspire and instruct the next generation of leaders - the students of UT - to better meet the global challenges the US and the world will face in the decades to come.

Houston Chronicle: Legendary JoePa extends his hand for UT's Brown
One of the country's legendary college football coaches will visit Austin in two weeks to help honor Longhorns Coach Mack Brown and to raise money for UT academics. Famed Penn State Football Coach Joe Paterno will headline the May 16 event to benefit The Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs at UT's LBJ School of Public Affairs.Brown is one of only three football coaches to have a chair in his name - joining Paterno himself and the late Woody Hayes of Ohio State.Super Bowl MVP Lynn Swann, a former ABC Sports commentator and Republican nominee for governor of Pennsylvania, will emcee the dinner at the Four Seasons Hotel. (“Legendary JoePa extends his hand for UT’s Brown,” Houston Chronicle Texas Politics Blog, 05/02/08)

Austin American-Statesman: Paterno to help raise money for Mack Brown endowed chair
UT is trying to raise $2 million to endow an academic chair in honor of football coach Mack Brown.

The fund-raising effort will get a boost May 16 when Penn State coach Joe Paterno comes to the Four Seasons Hotel to give the keynote speech at a dinner that’ll be emceed by sportscaster Lynn Swann.

The UT athletics department has kicked in $500,000 for the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs. The endowment will be part of the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law, a global affairs research center.“It is especially fitting that this chair is named after one of the greatest leaders on campus, Mack Brown,” UT President William Powers said in a statement. “He is not only a great football coach; he is an effective mentor and role model for all of our students. He never forgets that he is part of an educational institution where leadership and preparation for success in life are priorities.”

For his part, Brown said he’s flattered. “Anyone would be humbled to have a prestigious chair named for them.” (“Paterno to help raise money for Mack Brown endowed chair,” Austin American-Statesman, 05/06/07)

Austin American-Statesman: UT to Hook Up Mack with Endowed Chair
UT announced plans Tuesday to endow the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs to be part of the university's Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law.

The UT athletics department has already given $500,000 toward the endowed chair, and the goal is to raise $2 million more.

Penn State coach Joe Paterno will give the keynote address at a fundraising event for the effort May 16 at the Four Seasons Hotel, with former pro receiver Lynn Swann serving as master of ceremonies. (“UT to Hook Up Mack with Endowed Chair,” Austin American-Statesman, by John Maher, 05/07/08)

Dallas Morning News: Paterno in Austin to Honor Mack Brown
Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, who was in the hospital this week for dehydration at age 81, was in Austin Friday at the Four Seasons Hotel to help honor Mack Brown.Paterno is giving the keynote address and former pro football great and sportscaster Lynn Swann is emceeing a dinner benefiting The Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs.

The Mack Brown Chair will be part of the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law at The University of Texas, a university-wide global affairs research center named after renowned lawyer and public servant ambassador Robert S. Strauss.

The goal is to raise $2 million to fully endow the chair. UT Athletics contributed $500,000 to the chair as part of a $2.65 million gift made to The University for academic programs. (“Paterno in Austin to Honor Mack Brown,” Dallas Morning News, by Chip Brown, 05/16/08)

Austin American-Statesman: Fundraiser Friday Night Expected to Raise $1.5 Million for the New Mack Brown Endowed Chair at LBJ School
More than 200 people gathered to hear [Penn State football coach Joe] Paterno and honor [University of Texas football coach Mack] Brown, paying a minimum of $1,000 apiece to raise money for the newly created Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs. The chair will be part of UT's Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law.

Joe Youngblood, executive director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation, a partner in the Strauss Center, said Friday's fundraiser was expected to generate $1.5 million.The goal is to permanently endow the chair with at least $2 million. The UT athletic department already has donated $500,000. Brown said that after the initial fundraising was finished, he and his wife, Sally, might make a personal contribution.It's the second time the university has honored one of its coaches with an endowed chair. More than two decades ago, the school did the same for Darrell Royal, endowing a chair in the College of Liberal Arts. Ohio State has since created a chair to honor Woody Hayes.

The Strauss Center is hoping the chair will help to attract a big name. Frank Gavin, the center's director of studies, said the hope is to hire someone with the prestige of current U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

"When I was approached about the chair, I was really overwhelmed," Brown said. "Our global leadership is much bigger than wins and losses on a Saturday." (“Fundraiser Friday Night Expected to Raise $1.5 Million for the New Mack Brown Endowed Chair at LBJ School,” Austin American-Statesman, by Suzanne Halliburton, 05/17/08)

NCAA.com: Paterno Keynote Speaker at Dinner Establishing Mack Brown Distinguished Chair at Texas
In a night that included legendary names in the world of college football, Texas head coach Mack Brown was honored with The Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs at a dinner at the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin on Friday.Penn State head coach Joe Paterno gave the keynote address, NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver Lynn Swann served as the emcee and UT legendary coach Darrell Royal was in attendance.

The Chair will be part of the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law, a university-wide global affairs research center named for renowned lawyer and public servant, Ambassador Robert S. Strauss. The center is part of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs.

"Having this chair named for coach Brown is absolutely fitting," said UT President William Powers. "He is somebody who puts education first. He is a teacher. He is a teacher that builds character, goal setting and discipline. Coaching is not just Xs and Os, and coach Paterno is renowned for that, as well. The student-athlete gets the whole experience when they're on campus, so they can build on those experiences and go on and have great careers in whatever their chosen field is."

The dinner helped move toward the goal of raising $2 million to fully endow the Chair.The Mack Brown Chair specifically will be designated to bring the highest profile leaders in global policymaking to UT to inspire and instruct its students to better meet the global challenges the United States and the world will face in future decades.

"It's about helping part of our University continue to change the world," Brown said. "As we all know, the youth in our country will see a much different world than we did. I've had a great 56 years. They couldn't have been any better. I was just spoiled absolutely rotten by the parents I had and the advantages I had in life. We just want to make sure our family can do a small part to ensure that for our kids and grandkids." (“Penn State: Paterno Keynote Speaker at Dinner Establishing Mack Brown Distinguished Chair at Texas,” NCAA.com, 05/17/08)

Strauss Fellows in the News

Strauss Center Fellows and leaders are experts in a wide variety of fields focusing on global affairs and international issues, and are often cited and featured in national news media.

L.A. Times: McCain Eases Proposal for Alternative to U.N.
WASHINGTON -- Only weeks after laying out his full foreign policy agenda, Sen. John McCain has begun scaling back a key proposal that had been greeted with alarm by some Republican supporters and wariness by important U.S. allies.

McCain has said that, as president, he would call for creation of a "league of democracies" that would move aggressively to tackle problems the United Nations fails to resolve, such as the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs, civil strife in Sudan and world health crises.

James M. Lindsay, director of the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas, said McCain's recent description of his idea represented "a sharp departure from what Sen. McCain said previously."

Noting McCain's language in the Foreign Affairs article, Lindsay said that what McCain described to reporters April 11 were "ad hoc coalitions of the willing, which are something quite different, even if they draw on democracies for their main contributors."

Lindsay, who has advocated an organization of democracies of a different sort, served on the National Security Council staff under former President Clinton. He is not affiliated with a presidential campaign. (“McCain Eases Proposal for Alternative to U.N., L.A. Times, by Paul Richter, 05/21/08)

PBS: President Bush, Lawmakers Clash Over Renewal of Surveillance Program
President Bush threatened Thursday to veto the House version of the terrorist-surveillance reauthorization bill. A measure to protect telecommunications companies from prosecution is at the heart of the dispute. Legal experts examine the privacy debate.

JIM LEHRER: Next, the continuing impasse over legislation to reauthorize the federal wiretapping program. The president charged today the holdup in the House is threatening national security. Many Democrats in Congress disagree.

The key issue or a key issue is legal immunity for telecom companies that participated in warrantless electronic surveillance for the government after 9/11. The Senate has already passed legislation agreeable to the administration.

Caroline Fredrickson is director of the Washington legislative office of the American Civil Liberties Union. Philip Bobbitt is professor of law and director of the Center for National Security at Columbia University and currently at the Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas at Austin.

Now, Professor Bobbitt, you support immunity for the telecom companies, is that correct?

PHILIP BOBBITT, Center for National Security at Columbia University: That's right.

JIM LEHRER: Why?

PHILIP BOBBITT: You want to think not so much about the past, about punishing the telecoms for something that's already happened. It is about the future.

How can you, in thinking of an unanticipated emergency, take steps that will maximize the cooperation not just of telecoms, but of the private sector generally? That's the objective.

It's not about punishing corporate America. It's about securing cooperation at a time when you need it, in circumstances you really can't anticipate. (“President Bush, Lawmakers Clash Over Renewal of Surveillance Program,” Transcript from Newshour on PBS, 03/13/08)