News Article

         Bill Gates Sr., co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will speak to Gonzaga University Comprehensive Leadership Program students at the program’s biannual Fishbowl at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 15 in the Globe Room of Cataldo Hall on Gonzaga’s campus.

Bill Gates Sr.
Photo Courtesy the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

The CLP Fishbowl is a leadership conversation with regional and national leaders who share their expertise and insight with undergraduate CLP students.  The conversational format is geared toward providing Gonzaga student leaders with an exploration of “the interior of a leader.” GU faculty, staff and students also are invited to attend the event, which is not open to the public due to limited seating. The Fishbowl will be hosted by Josh Armstrong, Ph.D., director of the Comprehensive Leadership Program, and state Sen. Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, associate professor of organizational leadership at Gonzaga. 

The public will have a chance to hear Gates speak at the Spokane City Forum from 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m., Oct. 15, at First Presbyterian Church (318 S. Cedar St.); the cost is $10 and includes lunch. For more information about that event visit www.spokanecityforum.org.

The elder Gates, the father of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, brings a distinguished career in law and many years of public service to his role with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Gates Sr. earned a bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Washington, following three years of U.S. Army service during World War II. He became a partner in the law firm of Shidler McBroom Gates & Lucas in 1964, guiding it through growth and mergers that eventually established the firm Preston Gates & Ellis as one of the Northwest’s best-known firms.

Gates Sr. has served as president of the Seattle/King County Bar Association and the Washington State Bar Association. His other leadership positions include past chair of the Washington Courts 2000 Committee and the American Bar Association House of Delegates. His awards and honors include the 1992 American Judicature Society Herbert Harley Award and a University of Washington Law School Distinguished Alumnus (1991) honor.

He has served as trustee, officer and volunteer for more than two dozen Northwest organizations, including the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce and King County United Way.  In 1995, he founded the Technology Alliance, a cooperative regional effort to expand technology-based employment in the state of Washington. Gates Sr. also has been a longtime advocate for education, chairing the Seattle Public School Levy Campaign in 1971 and serving as a member of the University of Washington’s Board of Regents since 1997. He currently serves with Gov. Chris Gregoire as co-chair of the board of Thrive by Five Washington, the state’s public-private partnership for early learning. He is a co-founder of the Initiative for Global Development, a group comprised of civic and political leaders that is urging the U.S. government to increase the level of foreign assistance spending to combat global poverty.

Armstrong said he feels fortunate to host such a leader of Gates’ stature.

“We are thrilled to have Bill Gates Sr. share his distinguished leadership wisdom and experience with our campus,” Armstrong said. “Mr. Gates’ commitment to global health and education is inspirational and a great fit with our recent initiatives to develop global leaders through CLP’s Zambia Summer Study Abroad Program and CLP’s mission to inspire leaders for the common good.”

To watch a video of what the CLP students are doing in Zambezi, click the following link.

Established in 2002, the CLP is a three-year program designed to offer students curricular and co-curricular learning opportunities to develop knowledge and skills for leadership.  Interested first-year students may complete an application and interview for placement into this leadership cohort in October of their freshman year. To request a Fall 2008 CLP application or for more information about this program, please contact Katie Herzog at (509) 313-3579, via e-mail or visit the program’s Web site.