Acclaimed business executive and academic Leonard Schlesinger has been named the 12th President of Babson College. His appointment will begin on July 1, 2008. Schlesinger comes to Babson from Limited Brands, where he served most recently as Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer, overseeing Express, Limited Stores, Victoria’s Secret Beauty, Stores and Direct, Bath and Body Works, C.O. Bigelow, Henri Bendel and the White Barn Candle Company. He has also served as a senior executive with Au Bon Pain Co., Inc.
His academic career includes twenty years at Harvard Business School, where, most recently, he served as the George Fisher Baker, Jr., Professor of Business Administration, leading MBA and executive education programs. He has also served as faculty member and administrator at Brown University.
He is the author, coauthor, or coeditor of nine books, including The Value Profit Chain (Free Press, 2002)and The Service Profit Chain (Free Press, 1997).
Said Babson Board of Trustees Chairman Thomas Stallkamp: “The Board voted unanimously to endorse Len’s candidacy and is excited to welcome his unique blend of business and academic leadership to the Babson community.”
Said Schlesinger: “I’m honored to lead Babson, one of the premier schools for preparing future leaders in business and society. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to take a great institution to the next level.”
Said current Babson President Brian M. Barefoot: “Babson is poised to take advantage of Len’s tremendous talents. As a graduate, parent and longtime member of governance, I know that Len is the ideal person to take Babson to unprecedented new heights.”
Earlier this year, Barefoot announced plans to step down from the presidency on June 30, 2008. At that time Babson’s Board of Trustees created a Presidential Search Committee to lead the process of finding Barefoot’s successor. The committee was co-chaired by Stallkamp and former Babson Board Chair William Markey, Jr. The committee retained the Korn/Ferry International executive search firm to assist in the process that led to Schlesinger’s appointment.
Schlesinger served at Limited Brands from October 1999 to October 2007. While there he also held the positions of President, Beauty & Personal Care Group; Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer; and Executive Vice President – Human Resources, Leadership and Organization.
Before Limited, Schlesinger worked at Au Bon Pain Co., Inc. from April 1985 to November 1988, serving first as Executive Vice President and Treasurer, Director and then later as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Director. He also shared responsibility for the development of major human resource initiatives and new business development while overseeing a three-year compounded annual growth rate of 40%.
At Harvard Business School from 1978 to 1998 he served as, among others, Faculty Unit Head, Service Management Area; member of the MBA Program Coordination Team; Faculty Chair, Achieving Breakthrough Service (Executive Program); and Chair of MBA Essential Skills and Foundations programs. He also served as HBS Senior Associate Dean and Director of External Relations: Alumni and Corporate Relations, Media Relations, Communications, Development.
His academic career also included time as Senior Vice President for Development, Counselor to the President, and Professor of Sociology and Public Policy at Brown University.
He has consulting experience in the areas of organization design and development, executive development, human resource management and service management with over 100 major corporations, nonprofit organizations, and public agencies in the United States, Europe, Canada, Mexico, Asia, and Australia. He was an active leader of the design and development of the “Work-Out!” initiative at General Electric and the “Reinventing Government” process for the U.S. Department of Labor.
His other books include The Real Heroes of Business . . . and Not a CEO Among Them (Doubleday-Currency, 1994), The Management Game (Viking/Penguin, 1987), and Managing Behavior in Organizations (McGraw-Hill, 1983). He is author or coauthor of numerous articles and chapters and has appeared in several business videos.
Schlesinger received the Doctor of Business Administration in 1979 from the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration in the field of Organizational Behavior. His thesis topic was “Supervisory Roles in Participative Work Systems.” He received the Master of Business Administration in 1973 from Columbia University Graduate School of Business, concentrating in Corporate and Labor Relations. He received the Bachelor of Arts in 1972 from Brown University, majoring in American Civilization.
His directorships have included Borders Group, Inc., The Columbus Foundation, Combined Jewish Philanthropies, GC Companies, Inc., Limited Brands, Pegasystems, Inc., and University Medical Center Partners.
He has served on the editorial boards of the Academy of Management Executive, Academy of Management Review, Exchange: The Organizational Behavior Teaching Journal, Human Resource Management, and the Journal of Management Inquiry.
His professional memberships have included the Academy of Management, the International Service Quality Association, and the Work in America Institute.
He is married to Phyllis Schlesinger and has three children.
