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What is the Austin College Posey Leadership Award?

Since 2006, the award now known as the Austin College Posey Leadership Award has annually honored an outstanding individual who has demonstrated the principles of servant leadership by:  

  • taking a courageous stand on a public policy issue that advances a humanitarian or educational purpose; or  
  • serving the youth of a state, nation, or international community to improve the quality of health, educational, or community services; or  
  • creating opportunities for young people that help them enhance their educational experience and move to a new level of service to society.  

The vision to recognize these leaders is rooted in the Posey Leadership Institute at Austin College, created in 1995. In 2003, the Institute was named in honor of Lee and Sally Posey of Dallas, Texas, in gratitude for their generous endowment gift and contributions of time, talents, and resources in mentoring and supporting countless young people. The couple later endowed the Austin College Leadership Award. Lee Posey, the founder of Palm Harbor Homes, died in February 2008; that year, the Posey name was added to the award in memory of his legacy of leadership.   

In 2021, the Posey Leadership Award was re-envisioned and re-launched as the Austin College Posey Leader-In-Residence Series to enable deeper student engagement with the award recipient. In addition to a keynote address and award presentation in the spring, the Posey Leader-In-Residence meets virtually with students and faculty throughout the academic year to explore multiple topics and build connections. 

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2027 Austin College Posey Leader-In-Residence

Dr. Dale Okorodudu, Pulmonary & Critical Care Physician
Founder of Black Men in White Coats 
President and Founder of DiverseMedicine Inc.

Dr. Dale Okorodudu is a physician, author, and health equity advocate dedicated to increasing diversity in the field of medicine. A practicing pulmonologist, Dr. Okorodudu serves as a faculty member at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where he combines clinical excellence with impactful mentorship and outreach.

He is the founder of the Black Men in White Coats initiative, a nationally recognized movement aimed at addressing the underrepresentation of Black men in medicine by inspiring young students through storytelling, community engagement, and educational programming. A 2013 article published by the Association of American Medical Colleges showing that the percentage of already underrepresented black men in medical school was dropping, Dr. Okorodudu launched Black Men In White Coats with the goal of empowering young Black boys and girls to pursue excellence in medicine and beyond. Through this work, Dr. Okorodudu has been a leading voice in reshaping the narrative around minority representation in healthcare.

In addition to his medical practice and advocacy, Dr. Okorodudu is an accomplished author and filmmaker. His creative projects amplify the voices of aspiring and current Black physicians, fostering greater understanding and systemic change within the medical community.

He has been honored with numerous distinctions throughout his career, including:

  • ElevateMeD Breaking Barriers Award (2021)
  • Inspiring Leader in Healthcare (2021)
  • EBONY's Power 100 List (2020)
  • Top Healthcare Professionals Under 40 Award from National Medical Society (2017)

Dr. Okorodudu is a graduate of the University of Missouri, where he graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences and later his Doctor of Medicine. Okorodudu went on to complete his internal medicine residency at Duke University in North Carolina. After his residency, Dr. Okorodudu advanced his training through a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center. During his fellowship alongside a team of other physicians, Dr. Okorodudu founded DiverseMedicine Inc. in 2011 and Black Men in White Coats in 2012. Dr. Okorodudu joined the UT Southwestern Faculty in 2016, and in the same year became a became a Pulmonary & Critical Care Physician at the Dallas Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center.

Dr. Dale Okorodudu

The 2027 Austin College Posey Leadership Award presentation will be held on Thursday, April 8, 2027, at 11:00 a.m. in Wynne Chapel.

Recent Award Recipients 

2026: Jeffrey Rosen
Austin College and Posey Leadership team with Jeffery Rosen in the Sallie Majors Chapel

Jeffrey Rosen is an accomplished legal scholar, writer, and civic leader dedicated to fostering understanding of the US constitution. He serves as CEO Emeritus of the National Constitution Center, where he hosts We the People, a weekly podcast of constitutional debate. Previously, he was the legal affairs editor of The New Republic and a staff writer for The New Yorker.

Read More about 2026: Jeffrey Rosen
2025: Dr. Katharine Hayhoe
Posey Leadership team with Katherine Haydoe on Clyde Hall Graduation Court

Dr. Katharine Hayhoe is an accomplished atmospheric scientist who studies climate change and its significance to us. She is also a remarkable communicator, recognized with numerous awards including the National Center for Science Education’s Friend of the Planet award, the American Geophysical Union’s Climate Communication Prize, and the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service award.

Read More about 2025: Dr. Katharine Hayhoe
2024: Rick Lowe

Rick Lowe’s extensive body of work in painting, drawing, and installation is paired with numerous collaborative projects, undertaken in the spirit and tradition of “social sculpture.”  

Rick Lowe was born in 1961 in rural Russell County, Alabama, and lives and works in Houston, Texas. He is currently a professor of interdisciplinary practice at the University of Houston and is represented by Gagosian Gallery worldwide. 

Working closely with individuals and communities, Lowe has identified myriad ways to exercise creativity in the context of everyday activities, harnessing it to explore concerns around equity and justice. 

Read More about 2024: Rick Lowe
2023: Sylvia Acevedo

Sylvia Acevedo has had bold dreams and dared to live them as a woman in STEM who is passionate about education for all. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in industrial engineering from New Mexico State University and a Master of Science in systems engineering from Stanford University. She was one of the first Hispanic students, male or female, to earn that degree from Stanford. 

Beginning her career at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Sylvia created algorithms and analyzed data from Voyager 2’s spacecraft flyby of Jupiter and two of its moons, lo and Europa. She went on to work as an engineer and executive at Apple, Dell, Autodesk, and IBM, and as an advocate for educational equality. She is a strong voice for girls’ education, especially in the STEM fields. 

Read More about 2023: Sylvia Acevedo
2022: Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa, M.D.

Dr. Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa—just call him Dr. Q—was an impoverished teenager in a rural Mexican village when he hopped an 18-foot fence into California and found his way—through hope, hard work, and perseverance—into the loftiest heights of the American Dream. The eldest of five children, "Freddy," as he was then known, toiled by day as an undocumented migrant worker in the tomato fields and rail yards of Central California. On his days off, he attended Biology classes at the San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton. Then he became a gifted student at the University of California, Berkeley before transferring to Harvard, where he became a naturalized U.S. citizen and earned his medical degree, all before the age of 30.   

Read More about 2022: Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa, M.D.

Award History

  • 2006: Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America
  • 2007: Paul Farmer, noted Harvard physician and humanitarian
  • 2008: Geoffrey Canada, president and CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone
  • 2009: Greg Mortenson, humanitarian seeking peace through education
  • 2010: Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank founder and microcredit pioneer
  • 2011: Zainab Salbi, founder of Women for Women International
  • 2012: Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund
  • 2013: Salman Khan, founder and executive director of Khan Academy
  • 2014: Nathan Wolfe, epidemiologist and author of The Viral Storm
  • 2015: Shigeru Ban, humanitarian architect
  • 2016: Nicholas Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn, founders of the Half the Sky Movement
  • 2017: Vikram Patel, psychiatrist and director of international mental health programs
  • 2018: Barbara Pierce Bush, co-founder of Global Health Corps and advocate of health equity
  • 2019: María Teresa Kumar, founding president and CEO of Voto Latino
  • 2020 – 2021: award on hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic
  • 2022: Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa, M.D., prominent neurosurgeon and co-founder of Mission:BRAIN
  • 2023: Sylvia Acevedo, former NASA Engineer and CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA  and advocate of STEM education for girls
  • 2024: Rick Lowe, artist and activist and co-founder of Project Row Houses
  • 2025: Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, Chief Scientist for The Nature Conservancy