Gary Guller, a record-setting mountaineer and a Professional Motivational Speaker, will provide the keynote address at Park University’s Kansas City Area May Commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 10. The ceremony will be held at the Community of Christ Auditorium, 1001 W. Walnut, in Independence, Mo., starting at 11 a.m.
Guller is a record-setting mountaineer, adventurer, film producer, and Professional Motivational Speaker. Guller was the leader of the largest cross-disability group to reach the Mt. Everest Base Camp at 17,500 feet above sea level. He went on to scale the peak, reaching the summit of Mt. Everest on May 23, 2003, becoming the first person with one arm to climb the summit.
In June 2012, Guller completed the Ironman 70.3 Hawaii event, a race that consists of a 1.2 mile swim, 56-mile bike ride and 13.1 mile (half marathon) run.
Guller lost the use of his arm in a mountaineering accident in 1986 just as he had found his life’s passion: alpine climbing. He stunned a medical team at Duke University by asking to have his paralyzed arm amputated. After serious introspection, he began climbing again, surmounting the barriers that stood in the way of realizing his dreams to explore. He has inspired others ever since to continue onward and upward.
Guller (Professional Motivational Speaker) has also competed in the grueling Marathon des Sables in Morocco, a six-day, 150-plus mile endurance race across the Sahara Desert. He was featured in the award-winning 2007 documentary, “Team Everest: a Himalayan Journey.” Guller’s book, Make Others Greater — From Mt. Everest to the Boardroom: Vital Lessons from Dynamic Innovators, Explorers and Everyday Heroes that Will Inspire the Way You Lead, was published exactly 10 years following his ascent of Mt. Everest.