Nathan O. Hatch Leader of Character Award
The Nathan O. Hatch Leader of Character Award honors an outstanding leader in higher education who has shown exceptional commitment to educating character at their institution and beyond. The award is given by the Educating Character Initiative, a project of the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University.
The award is named in honor of Dr. Nathan O. Hatch, an award-winning historian and university leader who served as the 13th President of Wake Forest University from 2005 to 2021. As President of Wake Forest, Dr. Hatch had the transformative vision for establishing the Program for Leadership and Character, which has become a distinctive expression of what he describes as “the soul of Wake Forest.” Anchored in Wake Forest’s motto Pro Humanitate (for humanity), the Program educates, inspires, and empowers leaders of character to serve humanity at Wake Forest and beyond. Beginning in 2023, in partnership with Lilly Endowment Inc. and guided by Dr. Hatch as a Senior Advisor, the Program founded the Educating Character Initiative, which is catalyzing a movement to educate character across U.S. colleges and universities. With a dedicated team and a community of more than 1,250 educators from over 500 institutions, the
Educating Character Initiative has awarded nearly $18 million in grants that will reach hundreds of thousands of students, faculty, and staff in the coming years. In many ways that we can see and in countless ways that we cannot, Dr. Hatch inaugurated this movement and has consistently committed his steadfast leadership, support, and wisdom to extend it across Wake Forest University and higher education. He demonstrates how university leaders can creatively build
communities of character in their own contexts, and most importantly, he exemplifies – through his own life – how character is the foundation of wise, compassionate, and courageous leadership that empowers others to fulfill their promise. With this award, we honor him.
“The award consists of a copy of Dr. Hatch’s book, The Gift of Transformative Leaders, and a coin – still being created – engraved with the names of its recipient and their institution. The design reflects the ancient Greek origins of the word “character,” which refers to the image imprinted on a coin. Our character is formed by the imprints of others and serves as a kind of currency between us. And through our character, we make imprints on others and the communities that structure our lives together. In this spirit, the Nathan O. Hatch Leader of Character Award celebrates an exemplary leader of character who has left an indelible imprint on their institution and all those influenced by their example.”