Gen. Richard Myers co-teaching American Foreign Policy class at Kansas State University
Friday, Feb. 19, 2016
MANHATTAN — Retired Air Force Gen. Richard Myers is co-teaching Kansas State University's American Foreign Policy class with Michael Flynn, assistant professor in political science.
"The idea was for us to coordinate on a set of topics and spend the week talking about those topics from the perspectives of academics and practitioners," Flynn said. "Myers' lectures are a great opportunity to help students translate the ideas and principles that we discuss in class into practice. These different viewpoints are not something every college student can experience."
The former chairman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff will give his next presentation to a class of 18 students at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, March 3, in 218 Willard Hall. Myers will discuss his experiences related to military bureaucracy — military structure, influential military leaders and civilians, and military politics — as a supplement to Flynn's March 1 lecture.
"We will lecture on the same topic and our coverage overlaps in many respects," Flynn said. "But where I offer a broader more macro view and supplement with data, Gen. Myers tends to offer more refined and detailed information on the process and his experiences."
Myers' final lecture will be April 7, which will be about the U.S. and alliance relationships. He presented his first lecture about the foreign policymaking process to the class on Feb. 4.
"We are extremely excited about Gen. Myers participation in Dr. Flynn's course," said Jeff Pickering, professor and head of the political science department. "It provides a unique opportunity for our students, and is representative of the innovative and exciting instruction that is now common in the Department of Political Science".
Myers, who grew up in Johnson County, graduated from Kansas State University in 1965 with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, and he served in the Air Force for more than 40 years. The university's Gen. Richard B. Myers Hall, home to both the Army and Air Force ROTC programs, is named in his honor. Myers presented the 118th Landon Lecture in 2000 at Kansas State University.
