TOPIC: An Untold Story of the US Involvement in Afghanistan…And Its Aftermath…A Personal Journey

SPEAKER: George Forsythe,  Brigadier General, U.S. Army (retired)

George will discuss the establishment of the National Military Academy of Afghanistan from 2003-2005…its strategic implications and lessons learned. George will also discuss how his translator and their family immigrated to the US and settled in the heartland and how they help resettle Afghan families after 2021.

NOTE: Attend in-person at PUMC, no registration required. Attend via Zoom, please register with the Zoom link above.

BIOGRAHPHY

GEORGE B. “BARNEY” FORSYTHE, Ph.D.

Brigadier General, U.S. Army (retired)

BG (ret) George B. Forsythe was born at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, on November 13, 1948. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from United States Military Academy at West Point in 1970, and an M.A.C.T. degree in Social Psychology and a Ph.D. in Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He spent thirty-five years on active duty in the United States Army, serving in command and staff positions before returning to West Point’s Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership in 1984 as an Academy Professor. In 1991 he was promoted to Professor of Psychology and Leadership, and in 1996 he was appointed Professor, USMA, and Vice Dean for Education, a position he held until his retirement in 2005. Upon retirement, he was advanced to Brigadier General.

While at West Point, General Forsythe supervised the core and electives courses in leadership, designed and taught in the Eisenhower Graduate Program in Leader Development, consulted on West Point’s Cadet Leader Development System, advised the LA Police Department and the Bangladesh Military Academy, and conducted several major leadership research projects as Director of the Center for Leadership and Organizations Research. In 2003, he led an international team that wrote the concept plan for the National Military Academy of Afghanistan

Following his retirement from the Army, General Forsythe was selected to be the Senior Vice President and Dean of Faculty at Westminster College in Missouri, and in February 2008, he was appointed Westminster’s 20th President. Under his leadership, the College designed and implemented the Westminster 2020 strategic plan, internationalized and diversified the campus community, expanded academic programs, integrated academics and student life around the Concept for Student Development, created and implemented a system for assessing student learning, modernized the campus infrastructure, and enhanced the College’s national reputation, with 95% of graduates in fulltime employment or graduate school within six months of graduation. General Forsythe retired as Westminster’s President in 2015, and he now serves as a faculty member with the Thayer Leadership Group at West Point, where he does corporate leadership training.

General Forsythe’s scholarly achievements comprise over forty publications and presentations on leadership and student development, post-secondary education, and assessment. He has received three awards for Best Paper by an Established Investigator from the Division on Education in the Professions of the American Educational Research Association. In 2011, General Forsythe was honored with the Missourian Award for outstanding contributions in the areas of business, civic leadership, and the arts. In 2015, he was named by Ingram’s Kansas City Business Magazine as 50 Missourians You Should Know. He is a Professor Emeritus at both West Point and Westminster College.

He and his wife, Jane, reside in Beaufort, South Carolina. Jane is a retired early childhood educator. They have two grown children and three grandchildren.