Parker Wright spent three decades in the U.S. Air Force, retiring as a major general. He now has a new mission: serving as dean of The University of Alabama’s School of Leadership and Policy. The school, set to open in the autumn of 2027, is a new job for Wright, but it’s not new territory: he was the deputy commander of Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base, so he knows how education and leadership are linked.
For a recent edition of UA Info Radio‘s Capstone Conversations series, Dean Wright told host Brandon Hollingsworth how the School of Leadership and Policy aims to help students, UA and the state.
BRANDON HOLLINGSWORTH: What do you think are the essential characteristics or defining qualities of leadership?
PARKER WRIGHT: A couple of things that I think are important. A leader has to be authentic. So every leader has to tailor their approach to who they are, because the team will know pretty quickly if you’re not being authentic.
The second piece of that is, a leader has to be matched to the situation. So the leader knows themselves and then they have to know their team. What’s the composition of the team? The competence of the team? The experience of the team? Then they have to know their mission. What is it that they are trying to accomplish?
And then lastly is the context, the situation, that external environment. Good leaders are able to take themselves, their team, the specific mission, and look at what context they’re in, and then tailor their leadership approach because every leader needs to be matched to the moment.
HOLLINGSWORTH: Let’s translate that to the mission, then, of the School of Leadership and Policy. How does a school teach someone to do what you’re talking about: teach someone to lead?
WRIGHT: I really believe that we learn most by doing, particularly in leadership studies. And so our approach will be an experiential learning model.
In order to be a good leader, you have to be a good follower. And so what we would expect is our students will come in and join a leadership cohort and really learn how to be a good follower. And then as they progress through the program, they’ll get increasing responsibilities in the cohort. We’ll be looking for co-curricular and extracurricular opportunities where they can practice the leadership skills that they’re learning in the classroom. And then they’ll be able to reflect on those real-world experiences in the classroom.
Leadership is not easy. You put yourself out front. You’re being evaluated. You are having to make decisions that you may get wrong. And so [in] our program, we want to have plenty of opportunities for our students to learn by doing.
HOLLINGSWORTH: One thing I like to ask my guests who are coming to UA from other organizations or institutions is what they’ll bring from those previous experiences to their new job here. So how will your experiences from Air University and from the Air Force shape your approach or your philosophy as SLP dean?
WRIGHT: I spent 30 years in the Air Force and so there’s a lot of conditioning that I think I’ll bring with me to the new role. I think a mission focus, the idea that we have an incredibly important mission that we’re trying to accomplish. The Air Force and The University of Alabama are both public institutions that have a responsibility to serve our communities and to produce students and ideas that can have an impact.
HOLLINGSWORTH: You’re coming from a military background and into a civilian academic environment. What’s the transition been like for you and what do you think will be different from some of your previous roles?
WRIGHT: It’s been great. It’s felt very natural. Organizations are pretty similar. But you know, there are some differences. I don’t think they’re as big as folks might assume.
I think there’s a belief that the military is incredibly hierarchical and directive. That hasn’t been my experience in the Air Force. We’re a pretty flat organization. And so I think the collegiality, the working together with the fellow deans and the administration – I’ve been incredibly pleased and impressed with the level of teamwork, the culture at the university. It’s been a natural, easy transition.
Now, it has been odd to show up for work in a suit and tie and not wearing a uniform every day. But just as I was proud to have U.S. Air Force on my uniform, I’m proud to have the Script A on my suit when I come to work.
HOLLINGSWORTH: University of Alabama President Peter Mohler’s guiding framework for UA, called future-ready flagship, is intended to help set the university and its students on a path to succeed in the years ahead. It includes specific principles, which include discovery, development, service, and stewardship. How will the School of Leadership and Policy support those aims?
WRIGHT: I really think we are a leading effort in President Mohler’s vision for The University of Alabama.
In terms of development, [SLP] exists for the sole purpose of developing leaders. Leaders are developed across the campus, but we want to be a place that helps units across the university to be able to develop leaders.
In terms of discovery, we’re also discovering those new policy prescriptions, those new ideas to really solve some old intractable problems. We hope to be evidence-based. We hope to teach our students the skills that they will need to use all available data sources. We’re excited about the stand-up of the School of Data Science and the partnership that we’ll have. We believe that AI and other types of technological advances on the horizon may give us new opportunities to solve these old problems.
In terms of service, that’s why we exist. Not only will we help develop the leaders and the ideas, but then we hope to be able to inspire our students, our graduates to go out and serve their communities, not just in public service, but really across all sectors, whether that’s public, private, or non-profit, to lead with a servant’s heart and to serve the community that we’re part of here, particularly with a focus on the state and our communities.
And then lastly, in terms of stewardship, we have a real sense of responsibility to take what’s a pretty major investment in the School of Leadership and Policy and ensure that there’s a return on investment.
HOLLINGSWORTH: One of President Mohler’s other goals is to create leaders in all fields, not just the students who will be your majors and minors in the School of Leadership and Policy. How will the School’s work benefit non-SLP students here at UA?
WRIGHT: We think every student should take a leadership course of some type. In terms of those students who are not in our major programs, on the leadership side, we think it’s a major that would pair really well with just about any major. We see some real opportunity for a double major there, whether you’re getting a degree in arts and theater or you’re getting a degree in science or engineering. Having the skills with a major or with a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Leadership would really pair really nicely, we think, with some of the other majors. If a new employee comes in and has some leadership acumen or understands what their organization’s leadership is trying to do, we think that’ll give them a leg up in the future.
And on the policy side of the house, there’s policy work that’s happening across the campus, and so likewise we think that the policy degree that we will give both undergraduates and graduates will tie nicely with work that’s already happening on campus. We have centers and institutes already dedicated to doing policy work, and we just want to see how we can strengthen that network and then create a public-facing opportunity to be able to put out and inform the public dialogue.
HOLLINGSWORTH: The School of Leadership and Policy is set to formally open to UA students in the autumn of 2027, so what are you going to be doing between now and then to get things ready?
WRIGHT: It’s going to be a year-long sprint. We’re focused on developing and building the faculty team. That’s an early focus, to be able to bring together both the academic experts from the academy as well as those professors of practice who’ve actually led and done policy in the public space.
At the same time, we’ll be putting together the academic programs. We’ve got three degrees that we’re going to start with. We plan to do more building the curriculum, making sure the course catalogs are updated, making sure the syllabi are built, a lot of work to build those three programs.
At the same time, we’re building the infrastructure. We’re fortunate to have a major renovation to Farrah Hall that’s underway that’ll give us some modern classroom spaces and office spaces. That’ll open right as we open our doors, and so we’re excited about what Farrah Hall will bring to the table.
And then we’ve got to get the students in the doors, and so a lot of time is spent explaining the programs, talking to the high school students, talking to some of the freshman incoming class, making sure that they know the programs and the offerings that we have, and then getting them into the seats in the classrooms.
[It’s] a lot of work to be done between now and then, an aggressive timeline, but we’re excited.
More about The University of Alabama School of Leadership and Policy can be found at its website.
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