December 14, 2021

The Andrew W. Marshall Foundation

On Tuesday, December 14, 2021, the Andrew W. Marshall Foundation (AWMF) and advisors met to reflect on 2021 activities and offer thoughts on experimentation, intellectual courage, and mentorship.

Jaymie Durnan, Co-Founder and Chairman of AWMF, welcomed the audience and gave opening remarks. Mr. Durnan discussed how AWMF is fulfilling its mission through the experiments it has launched in 2021and noted that, “we really are keeping our promise to Andy by focusing on people and ideas, and how people are applying these ideas to the future of the United States.”

Jesse Ausubel, director of the Program for the Human Environment at the Rockefeller University, spoke about experimentation and its merits. He stated that, “change is the only truly predictable attribute of most systems” and spoke to the importance of play as a form of experimentation and invention. “The youthful Marshall Foundation understands the need to play, to experiment, and then to grow while retaining that spirit of play. The good news about 2021 is that the Foundation did numerous things for the first time.”

Dr. Melissa Flagg of Flagg Consulting LLC spoke about how we can encourage people to think boldly and imagine possible futures. She described Andrew Marshall as “not in a hurry” and said that she believed “he felt a deep urgency, but it was an urgency to understand – not simply to act.” Dr. Flagg advised that “we have a responsibility to inspire and support those who want to think beyond simply what they have learned.”

Dr. Dan Patt discussed mentorship and what AWMF can do to foster new voices. Mentorship “has nothing to do with having the answers and everything to do with asking the questions,” he stated. He went on to remark, “in the way that Andy lived his life and conducted his career and mentored a good many souls, we can find inspiration and we can find some answers, but probably the greatest lesson for us was in how Andy approached questions, how he approached being a mentor.”

The event concluded with a question-and-answer session with the audience, focusing on identifying good research questions, group creativity, and considerations one should make when looking at future possibilities.

September 13, 2021

The Andrew W. Marshall Foundation

On Monday, September 13, 2021, the Andrew W. Marshall Foundation (AWMF) hosted an event in honor of Andy Marshall’s centenary.

Jaymie Durnan, Co-Founder and Chairman of AWMF, welcomed the audience. Mr. Durnan noted that “Andy was much more than his career; he was a friend, a man who loved his two wives, both of whom predeceased him, and a man who knew when to be serious, when to tell jokes, and when just to have fun.”

Dr. Richard Danzig, 71st Secretary of the Navy, provided opening remarks. He referred to Andy as a “remarkably smart man with rock-hard integrity,” and focused his remarks on Andy’s relations with those with whom he worked. “Andy loved us and we loved him,” said Dr. Danzig. “Andy had this extraordinary quality; he gave each of us a sense that we were important, that he cared about what we thought.”

Dr. Jacqueline Deal, President of Long-Term Strategy Group (LTSG), moderated the event and provided remarks on understanding Andy’s past and legacy: “Mr. Marshall was unusual not just because of his longevity, but also because of his curiosity, the knowledge he acquired through practical work, and the perspective that this gave him.”

Dr. Andrew May spoke about Andy’s influences and approach. “Andy was an analyst who pioneered wholly new methods of studying the behavior of ourselves and our adversaries,” Dr. May said. “He encouraged us to think more deeply and more thoroughly, and more originally and more grounded in reality than we otherwise would ever have done.”

Dr. Matthew Daniels discussed how we may channel Andy’s ways for the challenges ahead. Andy “succeeded in building a network of some of the very best thinkers in the United States,” Dr. Daniels said. He continued to recommend that we “encourage somewhat unusual people to be…independent thinkers,” and concluded: “the good life can center on exercising curiosity and solving hard problems, and doing good for our people and our society.”

The event concluded with a question-and-answer session with the audience.

For more reflections on Andy Marshall’s life and legacy, see Remembering Andy Marshall: Essays by His Friends.