About the University of Chicago Leadership and Society Initiative
The University of Chicago built the Leadership and Society Initiative (LSI) to help accomplished leaders live meaningful lives by activating their encore chapters for the good of society. We see the experience of longtime leaders as an invaluable resource that can benefit the world.Â
This unique fellowship provides distinguished professionals who are transitioning out of their primary careers the guidance, knowledge, tools, and community they need to activate a next chapter of purpose.
Through a yearlong fellowship in UChicago’s unparalleled environment of discovery and free expression, LSI Fellows envision and launch ambitious futures—for themselves and for the world around them.
This fellowship is a commitment to the LSI method of personal growth, wellness, and impact. Our core curriculum presents rigorous frameworks to reflect on the wisdom gained throughout a long career, integrate fresh insights, and create a detailed plan of action. Backed by UChicago’s wealth of intellectual resources and lasting connections with peers, our Fellows plan and take concrete steps toward career encores where they continue to have fulfilling lives and leverage their skills into significant contributions to society.
University of Chicago Accolades and Figures
Why the University of Chicago
LSI Fellows choose to begin their next chapter at the University of Chicago because it is a campus and community like no other.
UChicago is an institution with global reach that pushes forward at the frontiers of human inquiry, affiliated with 101 Nobel Prize winners and with scholars who regularly generate transformative research in an enormous variety of disciplines. As members of one of the world’s most distinguished cohorts, Fellows meet peers and mentors who will support them through an exciting new period in their lives.
At the same time, the University stays grounded in real-world challenges and complexities, thoroughly intertwined with the lives and needs of its Chicago neighbors.
The city is a special place with deep foundations in the histories of social innovation, artistic creation, and intellectual inquiry. Nonetheless, residents face pervasive, difficult challenges such as poverty and homelessness.
UChicago is deeply involved in research to better understand these problems and efforts to find solutions that make life better for historically underserved populations. Starting with their experience on our beautiful and historic campus in the Hyde Park neighborhood, Fellows engage in Chicago as a laboratory for social impact. Fellows learn from local organizations and form lasting relationships that will shape their accomplishments in the years ahead.
Since its founding, UChicago has been staunchly committed to free expression, fostering original thinking in an environment of intellectual freedom, open dialogue, and mutual respect. In that tradition, LSI promotes a vigorous and open exchange of ideas across multiple disciplines and generations. We encourage Fellows to pursue unconventional lines of thinking, and confront difficult questions.