Harry Smith ’73, an Emmy Award-winning journalist and Central trustee, will interview entrepreneur Harold Hamm on campus during National Entrepreneurship Week.
Emmy Award-winning journalist Harry Smith ‘73 will interview entrepreneur Harold Hamm at Central College Feb. 26, during National Entrepreneurship Week. Smith, a Central College graduate and trustee, will lead an hour-long interview while audience members submit questions. The interview will be held at 6 p.m. in the Graham Conference Center’s Vermeer Banquet Hall. A limited number of free tickets are available at the Maytag Student Center information booth.
Smith, an NBC News correspondent, previously hosted “The Early Show” on CBS, A&E’s television series “Biography” and The History Channel’s “Modern Marvels.” His illustrious career has included interviews with international leaders from Richard Nixon to Margaret Thatcher, as well as leaders in literature, performing arts, science and education. Smith has reported on major news stories around the world, including natural disasters in the U.S., the Persian Gulf War, and the 1992 and 1994 Olympics. He has interviewed notable guests on Central’s campus, such as President of the Council on Foreign Relations Richard Haass in 2011. Smith studied communications and theatre at Central and was a four-time letterwinner for Dutch football.
Hamm. CEO of Continental Resources, Inc., was born the 13th child of Oklahoma cotton sharecroppers. He founded the oil company at age 21 and is now among the most successful in the business. He built a startup into an NYSE-traded, top 10 producer of petroleum liquids in the United States. “My biggest advantage is that I was born with no advantage,” Hamm told Forbes.
Wade Steenhoek, director of Central’s Martin Heerema entrepreneurship program, said Smith and Hamm will offer students a valuable opportunity to hear from a successful entrepreneur and discuss a multitude of related topics, including energy policy, foreign policy, technological innovation and effects on society.
“That is the biggest win in hosting this type of event,” Steenhoek said. “It spurs a deeper level of critical thought in how to process, deliberate and understand complex issues and their layered impacts.” Steenhoek said many Central classes have planned activities to build understanding and discuss political, social, scientific, economic, environmental and ethical issues related to entrepreneurship and oil production. “This event provides a tremendous academic opportunity for our students and faculty to discuss and debate tough issues in a thoughtful, civil manner that you would expect on a liberal arts campus,” Steenhoek said.
In addition to audience questions, Steenhoek said Smith will invite Hamm to tell about his rags-to-riches story, his philanthropy and the development of new and controversial methods of U.S. oil production.
Jacob Tune ’15, a business management major from Mesa, Ariz., helped plan the event and said he looks forward to the opportunity for students to ask constructive questions and hear Hamm’s answers. “It’s great to hear about where he started — and what he’s had to do and sacrifice to get where he is,” Tune said.
Central’s Martin Heerema entrepreneurship program enables students from all academic disciplines to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Students build problem-solving skills through a variety of hands-on entrepreneurial experiences and guidance from accomplished mentors.
Media credentials for this event must be requested in advance; contact Sunny Eighmy at 641-628-5272 or eighmys@central.edu.