Arts
Frances Hesselbein is an eminent leadership development expert, former CEO of Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., author of multiple books, and journal editor. Until recently she was President and CEO of the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute and is currently the Chairman of the Advisory Board of The Frances Hesselbein Leadership Forum, through the University of Pittsburgh. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998 for her leadership as CEO of Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. from 1976–1990, as well as her service as “a pioneer for women, volunteerism, diversity and opportunity.” The first President Bush appointed her to two Presidential Commissions on National and Community Service. In 2009, the University of Pittsburgh introduced The Hesselbein Global Academy for Student Leadership and Civic Engagement. The Academy’s aim is to produce experienced and ethical leaders who will address critical national and international issues and advance positive social and economic initiatives. Also from 2009-2011, she accepted an appointment as the Class of 1951 Chair for the Study of Leadership at the United States Military Academy at West Point. She was the first woman, and the first non-graduate to serve in this chair. Mrs Hesselbein has been the recipient of 23 honorary doctoral degrees and countless awards and recognitions including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Girl Scouts Council of New York, the John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellowship by Fulbright New Zealand and the Dwight D. Eisenhower National Security Award. She is editor-in-chief of the award-winning quarterly journal Leader to Leader and is the coeditor of twenty-seven books in twenty-nine languages. She is the author of Hesselbein on Leadership, My Life in Leadership and most recently, More Hesselbein on Leadership.