[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 178 (Wednesday, December 9, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1742-E1743]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     COMMEMORATING THE RETIREMENT OF DR. WILLIAM E. ``BRIT'' KIRWAN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN P. SARBANES

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 9, 2015

  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Dr. William ``Brit'' 
Kirwan, who has been a leader in the State of Maryland and in higher 
education for more than 50 years.
   President John F. Kennedy once said, ``Leadership and learning are 
indispensable to each other.'' Well, I can tell you that Dr. Kirwan's 
commitment to leadership and learning over these last 50 years have 
been indispensable not only to one another, but to higher education in 
Maryland and across the nation. Leading with integrity and purpose, Dr. 
Kirwan has earned the trust and respect of faculty, students and other 
leaders of higher education all over the country.
   Throughout his career, Dr. Kirwan has been committed to something he 
has described as ``constructive leadership''--which involves becoming a 
leader not through division and power, but through unity and service. 
He has embodied this philosophy at College Park, serving as chancellor 
of the University System of Maryland for more than 12 years, as 
president of the University of Maryland for 10 years and as a member of 
the University's faculty for 24 years.
   Dr. Kirwan has also taken his service and expertise beyond College 
Park, chairing the National Research Council Board of Higher Education 
and co-chairing the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. He 
also serves on the boards of more than five organizations--including 
the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Maryland Chamber of 
Commerce, Greater Baltimore Committee, Economic Alliance of Greater 
Baltimore and Maryland Business Roundtable for Education. And he 
belongs to more than four honorary and professional societies--
including Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, the American Mathematical 
Society and the Mathematical Association of America.
   These efforts have not gone unnoticed. Dr. Kirwan is the recipient 
of one of the nation's highest honors in higher education--the TIAA-
CREF Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence. His 
invaluable leadership and his commitment to higher education in our 
state have also been recognized by several Maryland-based government, 
academic and business organizations.
   But perhaps the legacy of Dr. Kirwan's service over these last 50 
years is best conveyed in his own words. In a speech delivered to Phi 
Beta Kappa inductees in 2004, Dr. Kirwan said, ``Our nation is in dire 
need of a new generation of enlightened leadership . . . highly 
educated, wise leaders who have respect for the individual, for 
inclusiveness, integrity and the common good.'' He continued, ``. . . 
our nation and world face a distressing array of enormous challenges, 
which--without enlightened leadership--will only worsen in the coming 
years.''
   If the next generation embodies Dr. Kirwan's commitment to service 
and enlightened leadership, I am confident that it will successfully 
take on the world's complex challenges.

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