Baltimore: Dennis O'Shea '77

Baltimore’s downtown wharf district is a charmer. Dallas, my hometown, is completely landlocked. Not only is it landlocked, but there is nary a tributary flowing through town. So, I have this thing for waterfronts, especially if they’ve been Disney-ed up a bit with historic signs, landscaping, lemonade stands… So, I arrived a happy, but hungry traveler.

Once I got some lunch in me (no crab cakes, unfortunately), I hit the offices of Johns Hopkins University, where Dennis O’Shea ’77 works as the Executive Director of Communications and Public Affairs. This means he (and his team) handles all the public relations and communications strategy for most aspects of this giantess of a university. He’s been at Hopkins for almost 20 years and they are lucky to have him.

Given his experience, I was interested in talking to him about leadership. How did his Williams experience help shape him into a leader? His humble response was that to learn to work with people, you have to work with people. As a small school, Williams gave him many different opportunities to work – and play – with many kinds of people. He talks about his classmates and peers with feelings of real admiration and respect, and I’m sure they reciprocate.

Before leaving, I was a witness to the office’s “Impossible Push-up” contest. (Rumor is that it’s on YouTube, though I couldn’t find it.) Dennis did not win the contest. But, for many other reasons, he wins in my book!