What’s New
- ⚖️ We are pleased to announce that the Kern Family Foundation has awarded the Program for Leadership and Character a new $5 million grant to continue and expand the role of character in legal education on campus and beyond. The grant, “Leadership and Character in the Law: From Wake Forest to the World,” will continue the Program’s efforts with faculty, staff, and students at the Wake Forest University School of Law through 2029. The funding will also help Wake Forest move toward the creation of a network of law schools interested in prioritizing character-based leadership and professional identity formation.
- 4️⃣ In a commencement address at North Central College, senior executive director Michael Lamb detailed four insights to help you find—and foster—your purpose. Read more in this Leadership & Character Ideas essay.
- 🗓️ SAVE THE DATE: Building Communities of Character will be an international, interdisciplinary conference designed to foster conversation, collaboration, and community in support of a movement for character education in higher education, held on campus at Wake Forest University from December 3-5. The gathering will be hosted by the Program for Leadership and Character and our Educating Character Initiative. Michael Schur, actor, producer, author, and creator of “The Good Place,” will be the keynote speaker.
- 💼 We’re hiring! We have six openings. You can learn more and apply here.
Our Vision
To inspire, educate, and empower leaders of character at Wake Forest and at colleges and universities across the world.
Our Mission
To use innovative teaching, creative programming, and cutting-edge research to help transform the lives of students, foster an inclusive culture of leadership and character on college campuses, and catalyze a broader public conversation that places character at the center of leadership.
Get Involved
Here’s how you can become directly involved with our Program as a Wake Forest student, or as a faculty or staff member at Wake Forest and other institutions across the country:
Receive regular updates on events and happenings:
“An education that shapes the whole person is both necessary and desired in our world. The Program is vital to our ability to meet this moment and produce leaders for a better future.”
Wake Forest President Susan R. Wente
Who We Are
The Program for Leadership and Character consists of faculty and staff from a diverse group of disciplines and backgrounds who study and assess leadership and character, as well as students who take on the important and challenging work of developing their leadership and character. Our Educating Character Initiative (ECI) is creating a community of educators interested in character on campuses across the country and world.
What We Do
We help faculty at Wake Forest and beyond educate leadership and character in the classroom and across their campuses. We work directly with students through our Scholars and Ambassadors programs, as well as through courses, fellowships, discussion groups, retreats, and special events. We spark public conversations and collaborate with others across the world. And we strive to educate leadership and character in ways that reflect Wake Forest’s motto, Pro Humanitate.
How We Do It
We put character at the center of leadership and ground our Program’s initiatives in seven research-based strategies for developing character. Because character education is not a one-size-fits-all approach, we find value and strength in engaging diverse ideas and partners. And we rigorously assess outcomes to learn what works and how we can improve.
Educating Character Initiative
Learn more about grants, resources, conferences, and learning opportunities provided and curated by our ECI Scholars and staff to educate character within higher education.
Professional Schools
See our approach and impact in law, medicine, and engineering at Wake Forest and beyond.
Resources
The Program for Leadership and Character is built upon the research and scholarly work of faculty at Wake Forest and beyond. Here’s a short list of resources from faculty and staff in our Program that you may find useful as you seek to educate character in your own context.
