We’re continually adding to our collection of more than 20 oral history interview audio files and transcripts. Each narrator gives a unique, in-depth perspective on leadership based on his or her background.
Experience history in their own voices
You can’t have your values on a plaque in the board room, or in the annual report. You live them.
Frances Hesselbein
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Showing 49 Leader profiles
Meet our leaders
A former governor of Indiana talks about practicing medicine, entering the state and national political arenas, and being a professor at IU.
The 16th president of Indiana University and one-time head of the NCAA talks about his love of learning and how a philosopher exercises leadership.
A leadership scholar talks about the essential qualities of a leader and how complexity keeps humanity moving forward.
A former Herman Miller CEO talks about the art of leadership and establishing the company as a design leader.
A social psychologist discusses how following her interests—rather than the crowd—shaped her career and her status as an intellectual leader.
The 15th president of Indiana University talks about his experiences in various leadership roles and the importance of prioritizing goals.
A psychology researcher discusses his iconoclastic research and how it revolutionized the scholarship of leadership.
A former representative reflects on his time in Congress and on leadership lessons that can be learned from previous U.S. presidential administrations.
A former president of Notre Dame University talks about the advances made under his leadership and his involvement in civil rights during the ’60s.
A former CEO of Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. defines leadership and discusses her time with management expert Peter Drucker and his influence on the Scouts.
She earned her PhD at the University of Southern California in 1978 with fields in Public Administration, Organizational Theory, Organizational Behavior, and Human Resource Management.
The 10th president of Purdue University talks about how leaders are made and explores his time as an educator and administrator.
Early in her career she held academic and administrative positions at Fordham University, Tufts University, Fairleigh Dickinson University, and George Washington University.
A leadership scholar and psychologist discusses growing up in the Netherlands, his writings on leadership, and his time at INSEAD.
A professor talks about the importance of integrity, compassion, and empathy in leadership, and on educating people to be good citizens.
He played a key role in developing the University of Akron’s graduate industrial/organizational psychology program ranked in the top 10 in the US in 2009 by U.S. News & World Report.
Senator Lugar is an Indiana legend, retiring as the longest-serving senator in our State’s history. Senator Lugar is a universally recognized expert in foreign relations. As a testament to that fact, he and former Georgia Senator Sam Nunn recently were asked to brief the Trump Administration regarding North Korea. Senator Lugar forged strong relationships among his colleagues on both sides of the political aisle.
A former board chairman reminisces about his education, his time in the military, corporate leadership, and philanthropy.
An authority on leadership studies talks about working on Capitol Hill, the leadership skills of various U.S. presidents, and his thoughts on what makes a good leader.
A leadership scholar talks about her time in an Illinois convent, how she defines leadership, and her successes as an educator.
A chairman emeritus of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation discusses his family’s farm, his thoughts on philanthropy, and the importance of leadership training.
The Mays Chemical Company founder talks about the power of the civil rights movement and the qualities of successful leaders.
A co-founder of the Vera Bradley Company talks about creativity in leadership, entrepreneurship, and the difference between leadership and management.
An academic and author on business and management discusses his writing, his definition of leadership, and balance in society.
Chairman of the Board of the Lumina Foundation, an organization dedicated to providing greater access to higher education opportunities for underserved populations.
She spent 17 years, 1983-2000, at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, Belk College of Business Administration, rising through the academic ranks to Full Professor.
A civic leader and former CEO looks back on her education, discusses respect for others as a leadership quality, and talks about historic preservation.
An organizational development scholar talks about social and organizational therapy, his military service, and his research.
Our center's namesake, Ambassador Randall L. Tobias, has served as a leader in business, education, philanthropy and government for over 30 years. He discusses what he's learned throughout a career in leadership roles.
An organizational behavior scholar discusses effecting change in systems, faith in the human spirit, and her experiences in the Peace Corps.
