PRES. HARROZ: Hi, I'm Joe Harroz, President of the University of Oklahoma. I want to welcome you to our Conversations with the President. This platform gives me the chance to talk to some of the great people who make OU so special. Make sure you are subscribed to Conversations with the President, and you will be the first to know when new episodes are released.
Let’s get started. Alright, first things first. I want to thank OU women's basketball head coach Jennie Baranczyk who joined us for the last episode and did a remarkable job. If you have not done so, please go back and listen to that episode. She is absolutely terrific, and while you are doing that, subscribe to Conversations with the President so you can get every new episode when it's released. Get it before your neighbor so that when they're talking about it, you already have it. You don't want to be behind that conversation.
Today's episode is absolutely exciting. It is the first time that we've had somebody join us via Zoom, joining us remotely. We are bringing in Randall 斯蒂芬森 who rose to the position of CEO of AT&T and we thought what better than to challenge our IT department by doing one via Zoom for him. We are excited about it and can't wait for you to listen to this coming episode.
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RANDALL STEPHENSON: Thank you, Joe. It's a pleasure to be here.
PRES. HARROZ: I have had the absolute pleasure of getting to know you and I know your story so I'm dying to tell it, but I think people tuned in because they want to hear from you. So could you tell us about – you’re truly Sooner born and Sooner bred. Tell us about your upbringing?
RANDALL STEPHENSON: Joe, my upbringing probably looks like about 80% of the people that are in the University of Oklahoma graduating this year. I grew up in the state. In fact, I grew up 8 miles north of campus in Moore, Oklahoma. Toby Keith and I graduated at the same school, Moore, Oklahoma. Went to high school there, Toby likes to brag, but only his name is on the outside of the water tower in Moore. I tell Toby mine is on the inside of the water tower and mama always said it’s what’s inside that counts. So anyway, I grew up in that community, and I grew up in a classic middleclass family, and just grew up loving Sooner football, loving all things Oklahoma.
PRES. HARROZ: I absolutely love it. Toby does take great pride in that. I saw him at the softball game this past weekend, and mentioned you are coming here, and he took great pride in echoing a very similar story with a slightly different spin.
RANDALL STEPHENSON: I’m sure.
PRES. HARROZ: So you often talk about one of the things we hope for our students, you have seen our strategic plan, and one of the five pillars is to prepare students for a life of success and meaning and impact. You know as you went through your childhood in Moore and then ultimately coming to get your masters at OU, how do you feel OU influenced you?
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PRES. HARROZ: Yeah, it is fascinating. I always enjoy our conversations because we are so similar. We are basically twins in the sense that I will tell a story about meeting with the University President, and then you will tell me a story about meeting with a US president. Those are vastly different things. I will talk about meeting this president you will say yes, when I was talking with President Obama or President Trump, those are engaging stories. So are you telling me that as the quintessential Oklahoman, that the tools that you learned at OU and that you gained by growing up in Moore, Oklahoma have translated well into the global stage?
RANDALL STEPHENSON: Not only translated well, they have proven to be universal tools. And when I look around me, my peers who are other CEOs or even leaders in our government, they are the same tools that when I look at the ones whom I admire, they're the same tools that they actually deploy in how they interact with people and how they try to affect change. So yes, they are not only critical in terms of developing me, but I also see them as critical in some of the greatest leaders that I've interacted.
PRES. HARROZ: Yeah. Now that is interesting. In this role as OU President, whenever I am with student leadership groups, one of the questions I always get asked and it goes to your point about making sure you know what the counterparty to a negotiation wants to accomplish. The question that I almost always get from student leaders I would love to pose to you and that question is, what advice would you give to someone who is starting off their college career, in fact, they usually sharpen it to say what advice would you give to yourself if you could advise yourself when you were a freshman coming into OU, what advice would you have given yourself?
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That is exactly what every individual ought to come into their role thinking and doing, fix it, make it better, move onto the next thing. I have always told people if you find yourself in a job that you have been in for 10,15 years, you ought to ask why. There is probably a reason. And if you are not being asked to go do other challenging, difficult things, it is probably an indication that you have not really dealt with, in a great way, what you have before you at the moment.
PRES. HARROZ: No, I think that is absolutely wise. So oftentimes, students will look at someone like you and say well he must have had some huge advantage that allowed him to make it to become CEO of AT&T. AT&T is enormous, right? It is a fortune, inside the Fortune 15, probably around Fortune 10 in terms of size of companies, probably quarter of a million employees worldwide. I mean, it is just an absolute giant. It can't be that a kid from Moore, Oklahoma makes it to the CEO position at AT&T. I love the story of how you got your first job and tell us how you worked your 的方式。
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PRES. HARROZ: It’s those notes of confidence that helps.
RANDALL STEPHENSON: Right opportunities at the right time, and I had a great experience.
PRES. HARROZ: Yeah, it really is pretty amazing to try and take a 40-year career and summarize it from entrylevel job that your brother, who was a line worker, gets you all the way to becoming CEO. I mean, it is truly sort of the great Oklahoma and Great American story of what can happen.
RANDALL STEPHENSON: You know, you called it the American story, and as farfetched as what you just articulated is or seems, it is not that uncommon in this country for an individual with no pedigree or no significant background in these areas to be given the opportunity to pursue an education at a reasonable cost, and with that education be given opportunities to do some of the things you and I have been able to do over the years. As farfetched as it seems, it is not. It is not that unheard of and it’s not that unusual in this country. That is what makes this country such a unique and beautiful place.
PRES. HARROZ: You know, I think it is fascinating. You know, it's at the cornerstone of a belief I have, and I would love to get your take on it that the length that allows for that kind of story to be possible, the accelerant that must be there is high quality, affordable, higher education available to anyone that has the talent and the drive regardless of economic circumstance. Is that a fair statement?
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PRES. HARROZ: Yeah, no it is fascinating. I think in many ways that the American dream is only possible as long as we provide that. And not just it's interesting I started school a few years behind you and my tuition had jumped all the way to $35 an hour. Yet somehow, I was able to handle that. But I think in so many ways, that without that, the American dream becomes less attainable. And so that is certainly to how we think here. Alright, you're rising
RANDALL STEPHENSON: It is attainable to fewer people, that is probably the better way – the way I think about it and the beauty of lowcost education is it makes it available to all people in society, not just a select few.
PRES. HARROZ: Yes, I would agree with that completely. One of the things I'm most proud of here is that right now, at a time when we are growing in record ways, and like many private institutions, you know over a quarter of our students are the first in the history of their family to go past high school, and that is what my dad did for our family, and it changed us. So there is a beauty and an importance that extends beyond the individual family to our collective selves as a state and a nation. I could go off on that for a while, I know you could too. I will circle back. You are big, fancy, former CEO of AT&T.
RANDALL STEPHENSON: That is what defines me is fancy.
PRES. HARROZ: That is exactly right. You know I have seen you on a ranch and you look more comfortable there than anywhere. You know, as you think about the challenges that you faced on your way to becoming CEO and while CEO of this global business superpower. While you were there, what were the biggest challenges that you faced?
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And so it was invariably, it was those issues around public policy that created the greatest challenges. I have always said that if we could just get a set of rules that were defined, whether they were good or bad for a particular company, they just are what they are, define them and leave them alone for five years, watch what US business will do. US business will invest under those rules, they will hire under those rules, they will provide healthcare under those rules and do all the things that make this country great. But unfortunately, the rules, particularly in this day and age, move not every year. They move every month. And so you are running a big company trying to make multibilliondollar investments that have paybacks over multiple years, man when you have a structure like that, it makes it really, really hard. That is where I spent a disproportionate, unfortunately, amount of my time.
PRES. HARROZ: Yeah, it is interesting and probably completely uninteresting to our audience right now, but as I look at this, it makes me think about the US Supreme Court case they just picked up around the Chevron doctrine, which might change the pace at which administrative agencies can change the rules. And I had not thought about it from a business angle, to me that is a fascinating perspective.
RANDALL STEPHENSON: Oh boy, the old Chevron doctrine and to your point, people will start falling asleep if we get into it, but that is a court ruling, a precedent that gives the administrative element, the bureaucracy of a lot of power and how the rules are set, and that is what allows the rules to change month to month literally.
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PRES. HARROZ: Yet, it is exciting, and it matters fundamentally. Maybe, I know we are getting close to the end of our time and there are so many questions I want to ask you. Maybe just one more quick question before we get to the final ones they have actually given me to ask you. As you look at it now three years out of the position, looking at sort of this global question in a world now where we have the current relationship with China and Russia’s war on the Ukraine, when you think about the greatest threats to US global competitiveness in the three years since you have been out of the chair, what has changed? Are there any new threats that you think are new and really do put at risk the US position as global superpower?
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PRES. HARROZ: It is fascinating. In listening to your thoughts, you look at silicone being essentially the oil of 20 years ago or 10 years ago in terms of the ability, it's not just an economic issue, it's a national security and national standing issue.
RANDALL STEPHENSON: It is absolutely a national security issue, and you just made the best comparison. Energy security is critical, food security is critical to our security as a country and our independence as a country. Silicone manufacturing is an element that is consistent with each of those. Our modern way of life, how people work, how people commute, how people entertain, how people have received healthcare is all dependent upon this technology. And I would really love to see a greater concerted effort for addressing this.
PRES. HARROZ: Yes, it is fascinating. Putting this in the role of higher education and even more personally in the role of students that are coming. We talked a lot about having been moved to a knowledgebased society and as someone that knows far more than I do on this, we are now in this digital economy. We have spent the last six months with public availability to generative AI, and so the pace of change is in no way linear. It is geometric in a lot of ways. If you were talking to someone about advice for critical career tools while they are in college that might not have been something you would have recommended 5, 10 years ago, what would those tools be that you think a college student of today would need to be successful in this new economy?
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PRES. HARROZ: Yeah, it is fascinating. So just to make sure I'm hearing you correctly, and I know you will correct me if I'm wrong, so if you think about the skills that someone needs to be successful in the world of today and tomorrow, it sounds like it will be an interesting combination of having the technical skills to be able to understand and compete and thrive in a digital economy, the ones you just described, but it also involves maybe an understanding of the classics and engaging in maybe the arts and understanding the humanities and the ability to engage in critical thinking skills that are – are those equally important?
RANDALL STEPHENSON: Oh my. Technical schools are a path for students, and I think they are a path for a lot of students. You can go to technical schools and get the technical skills you need to excel in some of these areas. But the people with the breadth and the depth of thought, the depth and the breadth of reasoning and logic, those come through the disciplines that you just articulated, the humanities, the arts, the letters. Philosophy. I think those are the capabilities that if we are not rounding our students with those types of capabilities, then we are just a vocational or a technical school, which is important, but I think we aspire to be much more than that for our young people.
PRES. HARROZ: Yes, it is fascinating, and those will be the leaders and the wealth generators and the content creators, right? Those are -- I think that is such an important mind, especially the time when unemployment is so low and has been for the last several years and it is easy to get a job that appears to be paying well based upon just technical skills. To me that is a concern that I have because I do think that as economic cycles go, and as we look forward, that larger baskets, more wellrounded student will be the ones that actually rise to the position of CFO, CEO and the like that you have been a part of. I could talk to you forever, Randall.
RANDALL STEPHENSON: Likewise, Joe.
PRES. HARROZ: And as you can tell, I have sort of diverged from let's talk about graduation and excitement around that to sort of summoning my inner Farede Zakaria only because I love the way you think and the experiences you bring and the perspectives you offer. All right, as we are now, I will see you next – if all goes well, a week from this Friday is our commencement speaker. I am certain you will pack the house. It will be like a game, probably our first game in the SEC against Alabama. So 84,000, an extra hundred thousand for those outside. For those who cannot gain access, can you give us a 30 second trailer of the speech that you are going to deliver?
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PRES. HARROZ: Yes, that could be a show in and of itself, and I think you have just given it its title, Gen Z the great hope. It sort of has a Star Wars feel to it. I like it a lot. I almost skipped over an area that is so important. I reached out to you, which you will not recall, I think it was the day that you stepped down as CEO of AT&T. Again, you may not recall this at all, but I asked you what you were going to do next besides take a deep breath for the first time in 40 years. What have you been doing for the last three years for our listeners and why?
RANDALL STEPHENSON: You know, I retained what I will call some business responsibilities. I sit on the board of this little retailer out of Arkansas, you probably heard of them, Walmart.
PRES. HARROZ: Little momandpop.
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You can put a statistical predictor on that in terms of how many will end up incarcerated. And you can put a statistical predictor on that in terms of how many will be reincarcerated in five years. And we have a situation, which is a downward spiral of not addressing this. And so Lanise and I have been doing work with Stacey and her team at the University of Oklahoma College of Education to try to create some solutions for how we step in and remediate this and see if there are things here that can be scaled, that can change the trajectory of this for our state in Oklahoma. And so that has taken a lot of time, we are doing a lot of other civic engagement. We have five kids, and we have had number that keeps me busy. These are the areas we are focusing on.
PRES. HARROZ: It is an absolute joy to work with you and Lanise. We call it colloquially the high dosage tutoring, and I love that it is right out of both of you all’s playbook. It is not just where can we give, but how can we contribute to research that can help some individuals right now, and also potentially scale across the state or even more broadly across the nation or even globally. It is emblematic of who both of you are, truly grateful for it, and thank you for taking the time. This was supposed to be 15, 20 minutes and I think it has gone 40. I could make it another three hours. You would probably drive off.
RANDALL STEPHENSON: It's always good visiting for you Joe, thank you for all you do for the University.
PRES. HARROZ: Thank you and we look forward to seeing you on Friday.
RANDALL STEPHENSON: Thanks a lot.
PRES. HARROZ: I want to think again our guest for the show, Randall 斯蒂芬森, for joining us. As you can tell, he is a remarkable talent combining absolutely down to earth qualities with an encyclopedic knowledge and remarkable insights. Thrilled to have him helping OU in so many ways and much more broadly. We also appreciate him for serving as our commencement speaker for this year. This is such a great time. It is a whirlwind this time of year as we head towards graduation in less than nine days, but it is a true culmination of the student’s hard work and it is an honor to recognize their achievements. It is one of the great times to be a university president. I know we are all looking forward to celebrating the class of 2023. Thank you for listening to today’s show, and I look forward to our next Conversation with the President. Thank you.
