William W. George is an American businessman and academic. He is a professor of management practice, and a Henry B. Arthur Fellow of Ethics at

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

.Official website biography
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Charlie Rose biography
He previously served as chairman and chief executive officer of

Medtronic Medtronic plc is an American medical device company. The company's operational and executive headquarters are in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and its legal headquarters are in Ireland due to its acquisition of Irish-based Covidien in 2015. While it ...

Early life and education

George graduated with a Bachelor in Industrial and Systems Engineering with high honors from the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

in 1964. At Georgia Tech, George was a member of the Beta Psi chapter of the

fraternity A fraternity (from Latin language, Latin ''wiktionary:frater, frater'': "brother (Christian), brother"; whence, "wiktionary:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal ...

Sigma Chi. He received a Master of Business Administration with high distinction from Harvard University in 1966; where he was a Baker Scholar.

Career

He started his career in the United States Department of Defense where he was Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and later as Special Civilian Assistant to the Secretary of the Navy. He later served as president of Litton Microwave Cooking Products from 1969-1978 and as Executive Vice President of Honeywell and also President of Honeywell Europe. In 1989, he joined Medtronic as president and chief operating officer. He was elected chief executive officer in 1991 and

chairman of the board The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

in 1996. He was a professor at the

in Boston from 2004 to 2016 and is currently a senior fellow. In 2002–2003 he was a professor at the International Institute for Management Development and the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. He also served as executive-in-residence at the Yale School of Management. He served on the boards of directors of Target Corporation, Novartis AG,

Exxon Mobil ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...

Mayo Clinic The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research. It employs over 4,500 physicians and scientists, along with another 58,400 administrative and allied health staff, ...

and

Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...

Awards and memberships

In 2014, he was awarded the Bower Award for Business Leadership by the Franklin Institute. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2012 for applying engineering principles to manufacturing to advance health care. He sits on the executive committee of the board of YMCA of the North and the

Guthrie Theater The Guthrie Theater, founded in 1963, is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The concept of the theater was born in 1959 in a series of discussions between Sir Tyrone Gut ...

. He has served as chair of the board of Allina Health System, Abbott Northwestern Hospital, United Way of the Greater Twin Cities, and AdvaMed. Previously, he served on the board of

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) is a nonpartisan international affairs think tank headquartered in Washington D.C. with operations in Europe, South and East Asia, and the Middle East as well as the United States. Founded in ...

, the World Economic Forum USA. He has received honorary degrees from the Mayo Clinic, Georgia Tech,

St. Thomas University St. Thomas University or University of St. Thomas may refer to: * Saint Thomas Aquinas University, Colombia *Saint Thomas Aquinas University of the North, Tucumán province, Argentina *St. Thomas University (Canada), Fredericton, New Brunswick *St. ...

, Augsburg College, and

Bryant University Bryant University is a private university in Smithfield, Rhode Island. It has two colleges, the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Business, and is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. History Butler Exc ...

. He has been named one of "Top 25 Business Leaders of the Past 25 Years" by PBS; "Executive of the Year—2001" by the Academy of Management; and "Director of the Year—2001–2002" by the National Association of Corporate Directors. In 2018, Bill George received the Larry Foster Award for Integrity in Public Communication at the second annua
Arthur W. Page Center Awards
in New York City.

Selected publications

*''Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the Secrets to Creating Lasting Value'', , 2003. *'' True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership'', , with Peter Sims, 2007. *''True North Groups: A Powerful Path to Personal and Leadership Development'', , with Doug Baker, 2008. *''Finding Your True North: A Personal Guide'', , with Andrew McLean and Nick Craig, 2008. *''7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis'', , 2009. *''Discover Your True North'', , 2015. *''The Discover Your True North Fieldbook: A Personal Guide to Becoming an Authentic Leader'', , with Nick Craig and Scott Snook, 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:George, Bill American chief operating officers Businesspeople from Minneapolis Directors of ExxonMobil Directors of Goldman Sachs Georgia Tech alumni Harvard Business School alumni Harvard Business School faculty Living people Mayo Clinic people Medtronic people Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering 1951 births