Stories of Consequence

Studying abroad was the best and most impactful educational experience I had. The person I am today was forged in the experiences I had abroad.

Chris Busbee ’85

Chris Busbee ’85’s first trip abroad set the course for a lifelong love of international travel and learning about other cultures. At the age of 16, he accompanied his father on a business trip to Munich and filled his time sightseeing and exploring various places. The most impactful moment of the trip came when Busbee visited the Dachau concentration camp, where the magnitude of the devastation from the Holocaust became clear. That singular experience has played a large part in Busbee’s life, including influencing his college studies, career path and overall world view.

Growing up in Dallas, Busbee always wanted to attend college outside Texas. He applied to several schools, but after a two-hour phone conversation with Jefferson Davis Futch III, Washington and Lee University professor of history, Busbee knew he couldn’t go anywhere else. It was evident that a school so dedicated in connecting with prospective students would provide the close-knit, supportive environment he was seeking.

He joined the Kappa Alpha fraternity — “the best friends in my life” — and formed deep relationships with his fellow students and professors. His relationship with Futch morphed into a mentorship; the two met for dinner every Wednesday night for three years.

“The relationships I’ve made at W&L are the second most important to me, other than my family,” he says.

While a student, Busbee studied abroad in Germany for a year. He spent the first half in Berlin (when the wall was still up) and the second half in Munich. Although he took German at W&L, he says he didn’t really learn the language until he was fully immersed in the German culture.

“Studying abroad was the best and most impactful educational experience I had,” he says. “The person I am today was forged in the experiences I had abroad.”

Study abroad opportunities at W&L now include a variety of global education experiences, including semester- to year-long opportunities (including a program for juniors at Mansfield College in Oxford, England), a four-week Spring Term Abroad and a host of international summer internships. The university averages about 100 students abroad in each Fall and Winter Term, about 300 for Spring Term and another 100 students in the summer.

“Study abroad adds to the breadth and depth of university education in numerous ways,” says Mark Rush, Director of International Education and Stanley D. and Nikki Waxberg Professor of Politics. “It offers unique, immersive cultural experiences and the opportunity to engage fellow students from across the globe who are also studying abroad. Washington and Lee makes it possible for students to study pretty much anywhere. This is a tremendous part of the W&L experience.”

As a testament to his own W&L experience and the transformative power of exposure to different cultures, Busbee made a $500,000 commitment to W&L’s study abroad program.

“It’s a pleasure to be in a position to give back,” Busbee says. “My experience at W&L exceeded beyond my wildest imagination, and I feel good about being able to, in a small way, make a difference in students’ lives.”

After graduating from W&L with a degree in European history, Busbee received his MBA in international finance from The University of Texas at Austin. He began his career working in finance at Citibank Securities, which required him to travel internationally, most frequently to Central America and Germany. He has enjoyed an extensive career in investment banking, management, renewable energy, oil and gas and cattle ranching, and he recently retired as president of European operations for Prytime Medical Devices Inc., a Boerne, Texas-based company that designs, develops and commercializes minimally invasive solutions for vascular trauma.

Busbee also serves as managing partner of the Sue and Richard Carter Charitable Trust, a family trust focused on investments to aid in the health, welfare and education of children and young adults. Each year through the trust, Busbee takes 15 high school students (about 100 to date) from lower socioeconomic backgrounds in the San Antonio, Texas, area on an experiential learning trip to visit Germany and its concentration camps. Before they embark, the students spend 150 hours studying the Holocaust and learning about its history. The goal is to encourage students to think critically about past and current events, especially related to prejudice, racism and discrimination, and instill confidence in them to stand up for their beliefs and become leaders in their communities. He often gets emails from students years later about how that trip changed their lives — just like his own formative trip at that age.

“You never know who will walk through the door that you open,” Busbee says.

Busbee, who lives in Telluride, Colorado, and owns a ranch in Webb County, Texas, says the most important thing he can do is expose his children to international travel. He and his wife, Erin, and their two children travel internationally every year, even living in Spain for a year in 2021.

“Getting out of your comfort zone and being exposed to new cultures, religions and languages is life-changing,” Busbee says.