U.S.News & World Report and Harvard's Center for Public Leadership Announce 2007 America's Best Leaders

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S.News & World Report, the nation's leading source of news analysis and service journalism, today unveiled the 2007 issue of America's Best Leaders (www.usnews.com/leaders), highlighting the country's foremost leaders and exploring critical elements of leadership in today's society. These inspirational visionaries offer Americans a ray of hope as public confidence in the general state of leadership spirals downward, according to a Yankelovich poll also released today by U.S. News and Center for Public Leadership (CPL) at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

According to the third annual National Leadership Index, Americans' view of the leadership landscape is bleaker than a year ago. The national survey results show that more than three-quarters of those surveyed (77%) believe there is a leadership crisis in this country, an 8% increase from last year. Further, 79% believe that the United States will decline as a nation unless we get better leaders, up from 73% in 2006. Yet the survey also found that Americans remain confident about the future, with almost two in three (66%) saying they are very or somewhat optimistic.

"Americans may have lost confidence in the current crop of leaders, but they haven't lost hope," said Brian Kelly, editor, U.S.News & World Report. "That optimism is due in large part to the presence of men and women who display the true traits of leadership. Such leaders have built a shared sense of purpose; have made a positive, measurable impact on society; and inspire others to achieve and to lead."

In its November 19 issue (on newsstands today) and online at www.usnews.com/leaders, U.S.News & World Report has published America's Best Leaders, featuring 18 of the country's foremost individuals who define leadership today:

    --  James A. Baker III and Lee H. Hamilton, Chairmen, Iraq Study Group,
        9/11 Commission (Washington, D.C.)
    --  Kenneth I. Chenault, Chairman and CEO, American Express Company (New
        York)
    --  Kenneth Fisher, Chairman and CEO, Fisher House Foundation Inc. (New
        York)
    --  Dr. William H. Foege, Senior Fellow, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
        (Washington)
    --  Michael J. Fox, Founder, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's
        Research (New York)
    --  Ron Grzywinski and Mary Houghton, Cofounders, ShoreBank
        Corporation(Illinois)
    --  Andrea Jung, Chairman and CEO, Avon Products, Inc.  (New York)
    --  Nicholas Kristof, Columnist, The New York Times (New York)
    --  Fred Krupp, President, Environmental Defense (New York)
    --  Yo-Yo Ma, Artistic Director and Founder, The Silk Road Project (Rhode
        Island)
    --  Nancy Pelosi, Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives (Washington,
        D.C.)
    --  Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor, State of California (California)
    --  Ruth J. Simmons, President, Brown University (Rhode Island)
    --  Pat Summitt, Head Coach, Women's Basketball, University of Tennessee
        (Tennessee)
    --  Shirley M. Tilghman, President, Princeton University (New Jersey)
    --  Dr. Harold Varmus, President and CEO, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer
        Center (New York)

"These leaders have taken bold steps and inspired others to address some of our more urgent national issues," said Kelly. "Consider Nicholas Kristof's willingness to put himself in harm's way to give a voice and a face to the world's most threatened and exploited people; Dr. William Foege's work on the front lines of the worldwide immunization battle; Pat Summitt's record as the all-time winningest coach in college basketball history -- this group's conviction to lead in authentic and effective ways is truly remarkable."

In a collaborative effort between Harvard's CPL and U.S. News, the leaders were chosen by a nonpartisan and independent selection committee, convened and organized by the Center, without the participation of U.S. News editors. The selection criteria used by the committee in choosing the honorees included the ability to set direction, achieve results, and cultivate a culture of growth.

About the Center for Public Leadership (CPL) at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

Established in 2000 through a generous grant from the Wexner Foundation, the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government was created to serve the common good by promoting excellence in leadership research, education, and development. CPL provides cutting-edge teaching and research as well as hands-on training in the practical skills of leadership for people in government, nonprofits, and business. For more information about CPL, go to www.ksg.harvard.edu/leadership.

About U.S.News & World Report

Founded in 1933, the weekly national news magazine U.S.News & World Report is devoted to investigative journalism and reporting, and to analyzing national and international affairs, politics, business, health, science, technology, and social trends. Through its annual rankings of America's Best Colleges, America's Best Graduate Schools, and America's Best Hospitals, and its News You Can Use(R) brand of journalism, U.S. News has earned a reputation as the leading provider of service news and information that improves the quality of life of its readers. The U.S. News website (www.usnews.com) extends that brand promise and delivers the best, most accurate information online, organized in an easily accessible way.