Harvard Alums Named Among Best Leaders

At a time when 80 percent of Americans believe the nation is suffering from a “leadership crisis,” the Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership has selected 24 individuals for its fourth annual profile of “America’s Best Leaders.” The leaders include prominent philanthropists, doctors, professors and CEOs.

The list was published in this week’s issue of “U.S. News and World Report.” The selected honorees were chosen in a two-step process. First, a research group comprised of students and faculty from Harvard and the University of Oklahoma proposed names and narrowed the list down to about 100. The final choices were then made by a national committee of two dozen people.

“It’s a very strong selection committee,” said CPL Director David R. Gergen, who co-chaired the committee with University of Southern California professor Warren Bennis. “It is composed of former honorees as well as faculty members from universities across the country and an assortment of others who have been interested in the project.”

The CPL also recently published its annual “National Leadership Index,” which is compiled by HKS Professor Todd L. Pittinsky from public opinion surveys. The results this year revealed the most negative attitudes since the project began in 2005. Respondents rated their confidence level either the same or lower in every one of the 13 leadership sectors, which range from military to education to business.

Gergen said the Leadership Index and the Best Leaders profile fit well together.

“The theory behind this project is that America is facing a leadership shortage,” he said. “Our aim is to identify individuals who are leading extremely well within their fields and to showcase them as models for others to encourage a higher quality of leadership in this country and internationally.”

Of the 24 selected leaders, three are former Harvard students: energy pioneer Amory B. Lovins ’68; prominent economist Jeffrey D. Sachs ’76; and Linda D. Rottenberg ’90, CEO of the nonprofit Endeavor.

Rottenberg said she was thrilled with the honor. She described the other leaders as “people who have inspired me” and called the selection, “truly a privilege.”

She went on to say that Harvard played a key role in her leadership style.

“I was a social studies concentrator at Harvard, and social studies really was where I learned to care about the world and think holistically about problems,” she said.

Rottenberg said she was inspired to found Endeavor, which supports entrepreneurs in developing nations, after she graduated.

“I’ve dedicated my life to supporting young innovators in emerging markets,” she said, “and the fact that I can bring it back to Harvard, where I really started caring about these issues, is tremendously joyful.”