(Dr. Benjamin Akande’s introduction of Gig Gwin for the Walker Speaker Series, September 7, 2011)
Planes, trains and automobiles don’t even begin to describe the modes of transportation our speaker this morning has used over the past 40 years of travel. Gig Gwin is no stranger to riding on the back of an elephant, camel, mule and even the occasional ostrich to get him to where he’s going. And where this man has and is going is everywhere!
Gig Gwin
In the span of 40 years, Gig Gwin has visited every country in the world, including some nations that no longer exist! He’s traveled almost 3 million miles by plane alone, he’s eaten airline food on more than 2600 flights and he is one of only 8 members of the traveler’s century club to have visited all 317 countries in the world. From the peaks of Mount Kilimanjaro to the depths of the Dead Sea shore, he’s journey has yielded an amazing travel trove of experiences and stories along the way.
Gig’s first international travel experience was a trip to Viet Nam – courtesy of the U.S. Army! It was not a sightseeing trip, by any means, but according to Gig it was the beginning of his lifetime of passion for travel and cultures. In the end, Gig’s travel dissolves into one thing: the need to explore and broaden his world…to go out of a comfort zone and see what is on the other side! In a world that is growing smaller every day with every new technological advancement, Gig Gwin’s travels and experiences help make each of our world indeed “bigger”. We are all global citizens but what is a citizenship if we do not use it to its fullest and embrace the diversity of our world?
Webster alum and avid traveler Sara Gunn gets tips from Gig Gwin
Our mission here at Webster University is to ensure high quality learning experiences that transform students for global citizenship and individual excellence. You see it in our programs like the Global MBA where our students live and learn in 5 countries over 11 months while earning a truly international degree. You see it in our new Walker Travel Award hybrid courses which enables our business students to receive up to $1000 scholarship to cover airfare and other expenses when they participate in one of our global destination hybrid courses. This is the Webster way of defining what “international” is to the education of our students by experiencing both personal and professional exploration in their education journey.
Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming to the Walker Speaker Series a man who embodies through his life of travel what we at Webster value most: the importance of global education and exploration. I present to you the founder of Gwin’s travel and one of the most traveled men on earth, Gig Gwin.
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RSVP now for Soren W. Schroder, President and CEO, Bunge North America, Webster Tuesday October 4, 2011. Address at 6pm. Networking reception at 5:30pm, The Walker Speaker Series event is free and open to the public.
