Atlanta 2012: Rice Confirmed as Keynoter 

 

LAS VEGAS—As staff and volunteers put the finishing touches on the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) 63rd Annual Conference & Exposition held here June 26-29, 2011, there was one last surprise for attendees during the June 29 closing general session: Dr. Condoleezza Rice, the United States’ 66th secretary of state, will be a keynote speaker for SHRM’s 64th Annual Conference & Exposition, being hosted at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta June 24-27, 2012.

Rice, who served from 2005-2009 under former President George W. Bush, held prior posts as national security advisor and as provost of Stanford University. During her term as secretary of state, Rice travelled more than a million miles and visited a total of 85 countries, according to the State Department website.

Rice earned a bachelor's degree in political science, cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Denver, a master's from the University of Notre Dame and a Ph.D. from the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver. She has been awarded 10 honorary doctorates and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Though other keynoters have yet to be revealed, the 2012 conference registration site has already been opened for eager attendees, noted SHRM President and CEO Hank Jackson in his final remarks.

Putting on a conference the size of SHRM’s might look effortless, but it would never happen without the work of SHRM’s conference volunteers, seen throughout the conference sporting vivid orange polo shirts.

SHRM Board Chair Jose Berrios praised volunteers for doing a “phenomenally wonderful job” serving as conference ambassadors. “We are very proud that they are part of the SHRM family,” he added.

Jackson echoed Berrios’ praise for the “superstar volunteers” and invited the co-chairs of the host committee—Cynthia M. Dobek, IPMA-CP, and James R. Tueller, SPHR—to the stage to accept thank you plaques for their service.

Berrios continued by thanking board members, chapter leaders, special expertise panel leaders and the Member Advisory Council for their roles in supporting SHRM and its affiliates.

Jackson thanked SHRM employees as well, noting that SHRM has “more than 350 of the most dedicated, hardest-working, and brilliant employees you'll find anywhere,” and observed that “so few do so much for so many.”

Jackson, who was officially named SHRM’s president and CEO during the opening session of the conference, closed by saying, “Thank you for all the support you gave me for a year as interim president and CEO. I hope and pray I can live up to your expectations. Thanks an awful lot and safe travels.”

Rebecca R. Hastings, SPHR, is an online editor/manager for SHRM.