Under the leadership of Class President Rear Admiral Maurice H. Rindskopf, USN (Ret.), the Class of 1938 decided to provide the Naval Academy with a “living memorial with a practical purpose” for their 50th Anniversary Reunion Gift. They established the first “Leader’s Forum” in 1984, and by 1988 the Class of 1938 was able to present the Naval Academy with an Endowment Gift Fund.

Since 1984, the Naval Academy has hosted an annual leadership conference for senior cadets and midshipmen from each of the service academies. In 2002, the conference expanded to include students from civilian universities and broadened its scope to include leadership topics relevant to government, business, and academia, as well as the military. The conference now includes more than 200 participants from over 40 military and civilian colleges. The Class of 1938 Endowment Gift Fund has also been used for:

• Leadership and motivational displays in Luce Hall
• Leadership essay awards in 1991 & 1992
• Leadership seminars and conferences for first class midshipmen
• Leadership discussions with senior officers in classes of NL103 and NL303
• Contributions to help fund the Chair of Advanced Technology for its first year
• Contributions to the Admiral Burke Leadership Foundation for production of videos

The vision and contribution of Rear Admiral Maurice H. Rindskopf, USN (Ret.) and the class of 1938 are the reason why the leadership conference is such a success today.