"I learned that asking the right questions is far more important than any formula or spreadsheet." - Regan Sheeley '04
Lee Walker
Lee Walker could have retired after serving as Dell Computer's first president and helping take the company public. Instead, he became even more successful in his second career as a community leader, teacher and philanthropist. Walker's willingness to give back to his community makes him a powerful "life of meaning" role model for Acton Scholars.
Appearances can be deceiving. If you met Lee Walker, he would hardly strike you as a physicist and Harvard Business School graduate. Walker "more at home in jeans, T-shirt and well-worn leather hat than a coat and tie" seems to unfold his six foot nine inch frame every time he exits the cab of his aging pick up truck.
Despite his unassuming manner, Walker's track record as an entrepreneur and investor is rarely matched, with successes like Dell, Pavilion Technologies Inc. and IntelliQuest Information Group to his credit. Yet it is in service to his community and friends that Walker truly shines.
As a community leader, Walker has worked tirelessly with his wife Jennifer on long-range community planning, regional transportation and environmental protection issues, most notably as Chairman of Capitol Metro, the transportation authority for Central Texas. Walker also was a founding board member of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, a cancer advocacy, education and research charity started by the seven-time Tour de France winner and has served for 22 years as Chairman of the Board of Westcave Preserve, a wildlife habitat area and learning center.
As a teacher at the University of Texas, Walker's students three times elected him as the "Teacher of the Year" for "Frontline Management," "Elements of Entrepreneurship," "Theory and Practice of Community Building" and "Community and Place" courses.
In 1998, the Austin Chamber of Commerce named Lee Walker the "Austinite of the Year."
Despite all of his accomplishments, Walker lives with an unusual sense of humility. When congratulated by a friend for winning a "well-deserved" award, his reply was quick: "Thank you, but I wake up every morning and pray: 'God please don't give me what I really deserve.'"
Acton's Life of Meaning course holds that true success is measured by answering two questions at the end of a well-lived life: "Did I contribute something meaningful?" and "Was I a good person?" By these standards, Lee Walker is an ideal role model for Acton Scholars.
