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November 16, 2020

Woody and Gayle Hunt Family Foundation Sponsors Seminar Series for Family Business Leaders

ENHANCED FEATURES: A gift from the Woody and Gayle Hunt Family Foundation is supporting a new series to help executives in family businesses.

The Drucker School of Management has announced a major sponsorship from the Woody and Gayle Hunt Family Foundation to inaugurate a new series of seminars designed to help executives address management and governance issues in the family business sector.

The $75,000 grant will be used to support the production, administration, operations, and promotion of the Inaugural Drucker School Global Family Business Institute Series. The series will feature six programs covering topics of special concern to family-owned or family-run businesses.

“Support from alumni like Woody L. Hunt (MA, Executive Management, ’89) makes it possible for the institute to enhance our programming with valuable new offerings like this seminar series,” said Katharina Pick, interim dean of the Drucker School. “The Woody and Gayle Hunt Family Foundation grant allows us to focus on the unique conditions affecting family businesses and to provide those leading them with specialized support and resources.”

The series, which is offered online due to current quarantine restrictions, will begin this month and continue throughout 2021. It will cover topics that are relevant to family businesses around the world, including:

  • November 19, 2020: “The Drucker Difference and Your Family Business”

In 2021:

  • January: “Contributing to a Sustainable Society”
  • March: “Next Generation Entrepreneurship”
  • May: “Succession and Governance”
  • July: “Managing People”
  • September: “Balancing the Short and Long Term”

Woody L. Hunt visited Claremont Graduate University last fall.  As the senior chairperson of the Board of Directors of Hunt Companies, Hunt participated in “CGU In Conversation,” an interview series with CGU President Len Jessup that engages with leaders from a variety of businesses and industries.

During their conversation, Hunt described the experiences and events that contributed to his remarkable success as a leader of the family-owned, Texas-based business The Hunt Companies and recalled his experiences in Claremont as a student of the late Peter Drucker.

Woody Hunt (right) with CGU President Len Jessup last fall for “CGU in Conversation.”

Hunt said that Drucker’s emphasis on the social dimension of business–the idea that companies should contribute to the functioning of society–reinforced his own commitments to community and public service.

Throughout his career, Hunt has held many civic and non-profit roles, including senior engagement in higher education stewardship in Texas.  He has served as the vice-chair of the University of Texas System Board of Regents and as former chair of the Texas Select Commission on Higher Education and Global Competitiveness, among other positions.

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The first installment in the new seminar series—“The Drucker Difference and Your Family Business”—will take place November 19. The date falls on the birthday of Drucker, who was the father of modern management and a longtime member of the CGU faculty.

The seminar will include an in-depth presentation on Drucker principles from Drucker School Professors Bernie Jaworski and Vijay Sathe as well as a conversation with Bill Betts, the sixth -generation president and COO of Betts Company.