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NOTE TO EDITORS, NEWS DIRECTORS: While most of the sessions and presentations of the symposium are highly technical or academic in nature, three keynote speakers scheduled over the two days will speak on broader topics. Media are welcome to cover these presentations.

HAYS, Kan. -- Hotel entrepreneur Jack P. DeBoer, Bradley A. Feuling, chair of The Asia Institute, and Fort Hays State University Provost Dr. Larry Gould will be the featured speakers during the annual Business and Leadership Symposium sponsored by The Journal of Business and Leadership and the College of Business and Leadership at FHSU on Monday, Oct. 10, and Tuesday, Oct. 11.

DeBoer will speak at Monday's lunch, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:20 p.m. in the Black and Gold Room of Memorial Union.

Feuling will be the speaker at Monday's dinner, which begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Robbins Center.

Gould will close out the conference at Tuesday's lunch, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Black and Gold Room.

DeBoer's career in business began during high school in Kalamazoo, Mich., when he sold real estate during the summers. He graduated with a degree in business from Michigan State University in 1952 before serving as a military police officer for two years. In 1966, he began building apartments and progressed from there to hotels, pioneering the all-suite hotel and founding the Residence Inn Co., which built and franchised 100 hotels before being sold to Marriott Corp. He co-founded the Summerfield Hotel Corp., which was later sold to Hyatt, and founded the Candlewood Hotel Co., which developed 130 hotels before it was sold to InterContinental Hotels Group. He founded Value Place, a short-term apartment concept, which now has 175 locations. He is the author of "Risk Only Money," in which he tells the story of his career and the lessons he has learned. That will also be the topic of his presentation.

Feuling's expertise is in early-stage venture operations and network development combining the social, public, private, education and non-profit sectors in Asia and the United States. The Asia Institute is a global network of 30 universities in seven countries and associations with nonprofit organizations that impact more than 287 million people worldwide. His topic will be "Enabling the Next Generation Global Leader: Creating a Global University Community in Asia." He will explore opportunities and challenges in the cultural, economic and political development of countries in Asia.

Gould, the chief academic officer at Fort Hays State, has served in a variety of posts in his 30-year career at FHSU: member of the political science faculty; president of the Faculty Senate; dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; executive assistant to the president; and director of the Docking Institute of Public Affairs. He has also taught at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and was a research associate with the Centre for Foreign Policy Studies at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada. He will speak on "Looking for Next Generation Faculty: Emerging Technologies, Best Practices and the Red Balloon Project." The Red Balloon Project is an initiative by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities to "redesign higher education for the 21st century." He will cover issues of access and accountability, the importance of distance education and essential skill sets for the 21st century.

For more information, contact Dr. Mary Martin, associate professor of marketing, 785-628-5877, mmartin@fhsu.edu. She is editor of The Journal of Business and Leadership and chair of the symposium.

The Journal of Business & Leadership, published every spring, is a refereed publication that provides a forum for current thoughts, techniques, theories, issues, trends and innovations in the business and leadership fields. All manuscripts submitted to the journal are subject to a double-blind peer review process. Manuscripts presented at the annual Business and Leadership Symposium are eligible for publication. The Journal is published by FHSU's College of Business and Leadership.