2003 Annual Spring Meeting Speaker - Mr. Ronald N. Langston, National Director of the US Department of Commerce's Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA)

Ronald N. Langston is the first individual to officially hold the title of National Director of the U.S. Department of Commerce's Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA). He was appointed to his position by President George W. Bush on March 19, 2001. Mr. Langston is an experienced executive who brings a wealth of leadership expertise from the public, private, and non-profit sectors. Under his leadership, using fundamental skills as a change agent and strategic planner, he has transformed MBDA from an administrative Agency to an entrepreneurial organization, focusing on learning, knowledge management and performance verification of its core competencies. A central theme of his management and leadership is "empowerment through entrepreneurship." Mr. Langston believes that a national entrepreneurial model will serve as the catalyst to bring capacity and growth to the Nation's minority business community.

Mr. Langston served as Vice President for Administration and Organizational Management for EMCO Enterprises, Inc., of Des Moines, Iowa. His career includes the commercial real estate arena, micro-enterprise development, marketing, and legislative affairs. Mr. Langston's Federal career began as a Legislative Assistant to former U.S. Senator Roger Jepsen (R-Iowa) from 1979 to 1981. He then served as a Presidential Appointee during the Reagan Administration (1982 to 1984) with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in Washington, DC.

Mr. Langston has served on numerous Boards and Commissions throughout Iowa and is a member of the American Society of Public Administration. His international affiliations have included hosting several delegations from Africa, the Caribbean, Asia, Israel and Europe (1993-97) in support of the Iowa Council for International Understanding; Served as a C-Span Panelist: "The Reagan Legacy and Its Impact on African Americans." (Aired January 11-13, 1989); Delegate, RIPON Society, Trans-Atlantic Conferences (1986, Paris; 1985, West Berlin). Presented paper on "German Unification by the Year 2000." [Paper published in the U.S. Congressional Record, 1985 and 1990, courtesy of U.S. Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa]; Delegate, American Council of Young Political Leaders, NATO Headquarters, Belgium, and observer of the State election in Rhine-Hessen, West Germany, 1982. Mr. Langston is a recent contributing author to "Outside In: African American History In Iowa, 1838-2000."

Mr. Langston is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including most recently, the Ronald H. Brown Economic Development Prism Award from Minorities in Business Magazine; the Asian Business Association's Strategic Thinker Award; the Tennessee Valley Authority's Appreciation Award; the Indian Business Award from the National Center for American Indian Development; Diversity Best Practice's Government Leader Award; the Minority Business and Professionals Network's 50 Influential Minorities in Business Award, and the Black Business Association of Los Angeles' Keynote Speaker Award. Mr. Langston is a National Urban/Rural Fellow, former Chairman of the Iowa Commission on the Status of African Americans and Commissioner of the Iowa Department of Transportation. In 1980, he was a volunteer on a BUSH for President National Campaign Staff. In 1988, Mr. Langston was appointed to the Personnel Advisory Committee of President-elect George Herbert Walker Bush. In addition, he was the first African American Republican candidate for the Iowa State Senate in 1996 and 2000.

Mr. Langston holds degrees from the University of Iowa, the City University of New York and Harvard University. He is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and is active in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a resident of Des Moines, Iowa, where he resides with his wife, attorney Inga P. Bumbary.