John Endicott Luncheon

John E. Endicott, Ph.D., Director of the Center for International Strategy, Technology, and Policy at Georgia Tech speaks at February 2003 Luncheon.

Thanks to past Chapter President Paul Hurst '62, for making arrangements for John to speak to us at this month's luncheon.

In addition to his role as a college professor, John is a recognized expert on northeast Asian countries, particularly Japan and Korea. He is called upon frequently by agencies of the U.S. Government for advice and involvement in policy matters regarding those countries. In fact, John reported that he had just hosted a meeting at Georgia Tech with North Korea's second-highest United Nations official last week. He and four other local experts on Korea met with the official for private talks to try to defuse the current standoff with North Korea. The meeting was publicized in an article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution on Wednesday, February 26th.

John has had so many experiences on the international affairs front that I'm sure he had a hard time deciding what to cover in his presentation to us.

He started by explaining to us his efforts to form a committee of students at Georgia Tech to discuss and recommend security relations policy regarding North and South Korea. He said that it became obvious to him very early in the effort that the students who were interested in becoming involved first had to spend time learning about the history of the Koreas in order to understand the how's and where's of how they got to where they are now. As such, he held a series of 25 classes concentrating on Korean history. That done, a committee of about twenty graduate and post-graduate students was then formed.

John spent the next hour or so educating us on the Korean situation; the history, the current economic and military status of both North and South Korea, and his take on where U.S.-Korean relations are now and where they might be headed. He also covered current relations between North and South Korea, Japan, and China as well.

I wish that I could have taken notes faster, but I found myself so spellbound by the depth of information John presented, that I just sat and listened. What a great knowledgebase he has stored in his personal memory banks from which to draw upon! John was kind enough to stay after his presentation to field questions from the attending alumni.

Many thanks to John for taking the time to visit with us and educate us at the same time. It was a very interesting and informative presentation.

Bob Schultz '71

Paul Hurst took the following candid shots at the luncheon.

Click on a thumbnail image for a full-sized picture.

John Endicott addresses alumni and guests after lunch.

Chapter President Bob Schultz '71, presents John with a personalized Atlanta Chapter apron.

For more information on John, click:

John Endicott Bio

For more information on CISTP, see their web site at:

www.cistp.gatech.edu