TEEX hosts 70 Texas leaders at Lyceum conference

TEEX recently hosted the quarterly conference of the Texas Lyceum in College Station. Seventy Lyceum Directors and alumni from across the state spent two days examining how Texas prepares emergency personnel and officials to act quickly and effectively to save lives and restore critical infrastructure during a disaster.

The conference theme was “Plan-Prepare-Respond-Recover. Repeat. Ensuring the Safety of Texans when Disaster Strike.” As part of the conference, attendees had the opportunity to witness and even experience first responder training scenarios and disaster drills at TEEX’s renowned training facilities on Friday. They role-played simulated emergencies and disaster response activities at the Brayton Fire Training Field, the Emergency Operations Training Center and Disaster City?. That evening, guests enjoyed an outdoor dinner at Don Hoffman’s ranch in Clay.

On Saturday, participants heard from homeland security and disaster management experts during a series of panel discussions held at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum. Presentations and panel discussions were led by 15 speakers and experts, including municipal, state, federal and military leaders in emergency preparedness and response; experts on foreign affairs, terrorism, biosecurity, and other emerging threats; as well as authorities in national security matters. The weekend was capped off with a dinner at Christopher’s World Grille and Fireside Chat with Jim Olson, formerly of the CIA.

“The goal was to have the Lyceum Directors leave the conference with a newfound understanding of the tremendous effort and strategic planning it takes to keep Texans safe, and to experience some of the actual challenges our emergency responders face,” said Conference Chair Jenny Ligon, a Lyceum Director and Manager of External Relations for TEEX. “The event was very successful thanks to the amazing teamwork and service of TEEXans in the Emergency Services Training Institute and Disaster Preparedness & Response divisions and across the agency. They know how to put on a great event, and the participants left with very positive impressions of the training we do for emergency responders.”

The Texas Lyceum is a non-profit, non-partisan, statewide leadership association whose mission is to foster the next generation of Texas leaders. The Lyceum consists of 96 men and women from throughout the state who have demonstrated leadership in their community and profession, together with a deep commitment to Texas.