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William T. Esrey was elected chief executive officer of Sprint in 1985 and chairman in 1990. Esrey joined Sprint, then known as United Telecommunications, Inc., in 1980 as executive vice president of corporate planning. In January 1982, he became president of United Telecom Communications, Inc., a subsidiary of Sprint, and directed the efforts that resulted in the decision to construct the first all-digital, fiber-optic national network. In January 1984, he was named executive vice president and chief financial officer of Sprint. Prior to joining the company, he was a managing director of Dillon, Read and Co. from 1970 to 1979. Earlier, he held management positions with AT&T, New York Telephone Company and Empire City Subway Co., Ltd. Esrey earned a bachelor's degree in economics at Denison University and a master's degree at Harvard Business School.
James Fallows served as editor of U.S. News & World Report until August 1998. Before joining U.S. News, he was the Washington editor for the Atlantic Monthly. Fallows has written award-winning books and articles on a wide range of topics, from military policy and international relations to immigration, mental testing, and the rise of the computer industry. His widely acclaimed book Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy was published in January 1996. Prior to joining the Atlantic Monthly in 1979, Fallows spent two years as President Jimmy Carter's chief speechwriter. Since the late 1980s he has worked and traveled extensively throughout East Asia. This reporting is the basis of his 1994 book Looking at the Sun. His articles on American politics, foreign affairs, and technological developments have been published in many magazines, including the New York Review of Books, Esquire, Fortune and the New York Times Book Review. Fallows also served as a regular weekly commentator for National Public Radio's "Morning Edition" from 1987 to 1996. Fallows earned his B.A. in American history and literature from Harvard University. Between 1970 and 1972 he studied economics at Queen's College, Oxford, England, as a Rhodes scholar.
Howard Gardner is Professor of Education and Adjunct Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, Adjunct Professor of Neurology at the Boston University School of Medicine, and Co-Director of Harvard Project Zero. The recipient of many honors, including a MacArthur Prize Fellowship, Gardner is the author of eighteen books and several hundred articles. In 1990, he was the first American to receive the University of Louisville's Grawemeyer award in education. Gardner is best known in educational circles for his theory of multiple intelligences, a critique of the notion that there exists but a single human intelligence that can be assessed by standard psychometric instruments. During the past decade, he and colleagues at Project Zero have been working on the design of performance-based assessments, education for understanding, and the use of multiple intelligences to achieve more personalized curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Most recently, Gardner has been carrying out intensive case studies of exemplary creators and leaders; he and colleagues have launched an investigation of the relationship between cutting-edge work in different domains and a sense of social responsibility for the use and implications of that work. Gardner's latest book, Extraordinary Minds, was published in 1997 for the MasterMinds Series by Basic Books.
Mark D. Gearan was confirmed by the United States Senate and sworn in as the 14th director of the Peace Corps in September 1995. Since becoming director, Gearan has worked to prepare the Peace Corps for the 21st century by building on the agency's proud legacy of service over the last 37 years. In addition to supporting the 6,500 Peace Corps volunteers serving in 84 countries, Gearan has been positioning the agency for its proposed goal of having 10,000 volunteers overseas by the year 2000. Gearan, 41, brings to the Peace Corps an extensive career in public service. From 1993-95, he served as assistant to the president and director of communications, as well as White House deputy chief of staff. Gearan has also served as Vice President Gore's campaign manager, executive director of the Democratic Governors Association, director of the Massachusetts Office of Federal Relations, headquarters press secretary for Governor Michael Dukakis's presidential campaign, press secretary for U.S. Representative Robert F. Drinan of Massachusetts, and chief of staff for U.S. Representative Berkeley Bedell of Iowa. Gearan earned a B.A. in government cum laude at Harvard College and a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center.
Raymond V. Gilmartin joined Merck & Co., Inc. in June 1994 as President and Chief Executive Officer. He was named to the additional post of Chairman of the Board in November 1994. Prior to joining Merck, Mr. Gilmartin was Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Becton Dickinson and Company. An active participant in health industry affairs, Mr. Gilmartin is a Director and Chairman-elect of the Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America; he is Chairman of the Healthcare Leadership Council, a group dedicated to excellence in America's healthcare system; and he is Chairman of Valley Health System, Inc., the parent company of two community-based hospitals in northern New Jersey. Gilmartin holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Ronald A. Heifetz directs the Leadership Education Project at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. For the last fourteen years, he has been responsible for developing a theory of leadership and a method for leadership development. His research aims to provide strategy and tactics for mobilizing adaptive work in politics, businesses, and nonprofits. His widely acclaimed book, Leadership Without Easy Answers, was published by The Belknap/Harvard University Press in September 1994. Formerly Director of Cor Associates, a research and development group, and Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Heifetz works extensively with leaders in government and industry. His consultations and seminars with individuals, executive committees, and leadership teams focus on the work of leaders in generating and sustaining adaptive change across political boundaries, operating units, product divisions, and functions in politics, government agencies, and international businesses. Heifetz is a graduate of Columbia University, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Walter Isaacson became Editor of TIME in January 1996, becoming the 14th chief editor of the magazine since its founding in 1923. As editor, he has reshaped TIME's mission through more detailed reporting and livelier writing. "Our goal," he says, "is to capture the magic of what's happening in the world, from politics to arts, and to make the people who shape our times come alive." Isaacson began his journalism career as a reporter for The Sunday Times of London and then as a reporter and city hall columnist for the New Orleans Times-Picayune. He joined TIME in 1978 as a national affairs writer in New York, then moved to Washington as a political correspondent. He subsequently became the magazine's Nation Editor and an Assistant Managing Editor. In 1993, he was named the Editor of New Media for Time, Inc. In that role he launched the Internet service Pathfinder and the cable online service RoadRunner. In addition to running the weekly magazine, Isaacson also oversees TIME's growing franchises, which include a classroom publication called TIME For Kids; a successful technology magazine, TIME Digital; and an online service called Time Daily. TIME is also a partner with CNN in producing Newsstand, a primetime, weekly television news magazine program. Isaacson is a graduate of Harvard College and of Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes scholar. He is the co-author of The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made and the author of Kissinger: A Biography.
Laura L. Nash is director of the newly formed Institute for Values-Centered Leadership at Harvard Divinity School. In addition to running the Institute's programs, she teaches and writes on business ethics, religious values, and corporate culture. Before joining Harvard Divinity School, Nash was Senior Research Associate at Boston University's Institute for the Study of Economic Culture. With a Ph.D. in classical philology from Harvard University, Nash began working in business ethics on the faculty at Harvard Business School in 1980. Among her books are Good Intentions Aside (Harvard Business School Press), A Fatal Embrace? (with Frank Heuberger), Believers in Business (Thomas Nelson Publishers), and A Sense of Mission (with Andrew Campbell). A former program director of The Conference Board's annual corporate ethics conference and past president of the Society for Business Ethics, Nash also consults with a number of corporations and professional groups. She has just completed a book of stories on the culture and values of a major U.S. multinational firm in the information services industry. Her latest research is on the business person's search to integrate faith and work, and the role of the church in that process.
Bruce Pasternack is a senior vice president of Booz·Allen & Hamilton, a member of the firm's Executive Committee, and Managing Partner of its San Francisco Office. He has responsibility for Booz·Allen's firm-wide Strategic Leadership Practice, which is concerned with top management strategy, organization, business model, transformation, and leadership issues. He served as the Managing Partner of the firm's Energy, Chemicals, and Pharmaceuticals Practice for almost ten years and has been a member of Booz·Allen's Board of Directors. Along with a colleague, he has written a book called The Centerless Corporation, published by Simon & Schuster (February, 1998). In Mr. Pasternack's role in the Strategic Leadership Practice, he leads Booz·Allen's development, transfer and public distribution of intellectual capital related to the CEO/top management agenda. His client work in this area includes the development and implementation of a future business model for one of the world's leading global corporations. This included defining the key missions of the Corporate Center, the design of natural business units and shared services organizations, the use of technology to manage the corporation more effectively, methods for sharing knowledge and best practices in the company, and the strategic deployment of the company's resources and capabilities. He has counselled many CEOs and senior executives in building their agenda; creating vision, strategy, values, and identity for the company; people strategy and team dynamics; and leadership skills. Mr. Pasternack has engineering and operations research degrees from The Cooper Union and the University of Pennsylvania.
Robert Shapiro is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Monsanto Company. Mr. Shapiro joined Searle, now a unit of Monsanto, in 1979 as Vice President and General Counsel. In 1982, he was named President of the newly formed NutraSweet Group of Searle. When Searle was acquired by Monsanto in 1985, he was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The NutraSweet Company, a subsidiary of Monsanto. In 1990, he was named Executive Vice President, Monsanto Company, and President, The Agricultural Group, an operating unit of Monsanto. He became Monsanto's President and Chief Operating Officer in 1993 and was appointed to his present position in April 1995. Mr. Shapiro is a member of the President's Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations and the Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee. He has served under previous appointments on the Advisory Committee on Industrial Innovation, White House Domestic Policy Review; and the Civil Aeronautics Board Advisory.