In Memoriam: Dr. Gary Weaver

The Global Young Leaders Conference (GYLC) family is sad to share the news of the passing of Dr. Gary Weaver, an integral part of our team.

Since the first GYLC program 18 years ago in 1999, Dr. Weaver spoke to every group of GYLC students, sharing his insights on what defines culture, explaining the difference between generalizations and stereotypes, and sharing amusing stories of nonverbal communication gone wrong.  GYLC participants learned from Dr. Weaver that different is not equivalent to negative, that what is normal for one person might be out of the ordinary for someone else, and encouraged students to use GYLC as an opportunity to discard any generalizations previously held about others, as they’d likely be proven inaccurate during their time at GYLC.  Sharing the Iceberg Analogy, Dr. Weaver guided GYLC students to understand that, regardless of appearances and discernible cultural differences, the majority of a person is hidden under the surface—and that it is only by engaging in open and respectful discussions that one will gain an understanding and appreciation of others and their culture.  No better message aligns with the GYLC experience.

In his 18 years and over 100 speeches, Dr. Weaver spoke to over 30,000 GYLC students, making a huge impact on how they view the world. Many students cited Dr. Weaver when asked who their favorite speaker was of the entire program:

"Dr. Gary Weaver's speech was a really thought-provoking and fascinating one, which inspired me to approach the problems we were given in different ways."

"He helped me see culture from a whole new perspective. He was very interactive with us so we were able to communicate adequately with him. He taught us to understand why people did the things they did."

"Dr. Gary Weaver was my favourite speaker because he showed me how to tackle problems concerning cultural differences. He was really inspiring and I was baffled by his wiseness. He gave us the right way to make peace; that is to understand and value everyone's culture though you don't always agree with them. He showed me the importance of communication."

Dr. Weaver’s humor and quick wit, coupled with the valuable information he shared, established his place as a ‘GYLC celebrity’ and overall student and staff favorite year after year. Dr. Weaver will always be a part of GYLC’s legacy and will be greatly missed.