Henry Crown Fellowship Program

Program Overview

The Henry Crown Fellowship Program, established in 1997, seeks to develop our next generation of community-spirited leaders, providing them with the tools necessary to meet the challenges of corporate and civic leadership in the 21st century.

The program is a unique mix of intellectual and personal development seminars designed to broaden the perspectives of the participants and hone their skills in values-based leadership. It honors the memory of Chicago industrialist Henry Crown (1896-1990), whose legendary career was marked by a lifelong commitment to honor, integrity, industry and philanthropy. View photos from the tenth year anniversary celebration. 

The Program

Each class of 20 Henry Crown Fellows is chosen from a wide pool of young and accomplished entrepreneurial leaders (between the ages of 25 and 45). These Fellows have already achieved considerable success in the private or public sector and are at an inflection point in their lives or careers—looking toward the broader role they might take on in their communities or globally.

The two-year program comprises a structured series of four seminars (approximately 23 days) under the guidance of skilled senior moderators of the Aspen Institute along with a required leadership project of each Fellow’s own design and choosing.

Individuals cannot apply to the Crown Fellowship Program on their own: they must be nominated by recognized leaders of the business and professional communities or by Fellows, Senior Mentors, members of the Henry Crown Fellowship Board of Overseers or The Aspen Institute Board of Trustees.

Executive Director

Peter A. Reiling is Executive Director of the program and a Henry Crown Fellow (Class of '98). He also serves as the Aspen Institute's Executive Vice President for Leadership and Seminar Programs. Prior to joining the Institute he was President and CEO of TechnoServe, and was an adjunct professor at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and guest lecturer at the Institute for Developing Economies in Tokyo.