Anne C. Leonard is an educational leader and administrator with more than five decades of commitment to students and Catholic education. She holds both a Bachelor of Science in education and social science and a Master of Arts from Fordham University, and was awarded a certificate of advanced graduate study from Boston University in 1972. Since then, she has continued to advance her education with postgraduate study at institutions around the United States, including the University of Notre Dame, the University of Northern Illinois, the University of San Francisco and Hunter College.
Certified as both a teacher and an administrator in the state of New York, Ms. Leonard began her career as a teacher at Notre Dame Academy in the late 1950s, rising to assistant principal and principal during her 11 years with the school. She served briefly as principal at the Maternity B.V.M School in Bourbonnais, Illinois, before accepting a position as principal at St. Jude the Apostle School in 1969, where she would remain until being named director of Catholic elementary schools for the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1978. Ms. Leonard continued to rise in the Archdiocese of Chicago through the 1980s, becoming director of educational services for the district and an executive officer on the diocese’s Commission on Educational Services in 1983 as well as being named to Cardinal Bernardin’s cabinet.
In 1990, Ms. Leonard left the Archdiocese of Chicago to serve as director of education and superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City for the next six years. She began her tenure with the Congregation of Notre Dame in 1996, acting as United States province leader until 2005, when she joined the leadership team and accepted her current position as chair of the Midwestern University board of trustees. In light of her educational leadership expertise, Ms. Leonard is an in-demand speaker, lecturer and consultant, and has presented for Fortune 500 companies, organized symposia for directors of education from across the Midwest, and was a longtime member of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops in Washington.
Ms. Leonard has consulted on textbooks for William H. Sadlier, Inc., and has been extensively published in Catholic media and educational journals throughout her career. She remains a trustee of nearly half a dozen colleges and universities, following decades of involvement with educational policy and organizational development work with Junior Achievement, the National Conference for Community and Justice, and others. Currently, Ms. Leonard is enjoying personal time after spending the last 10 years working internationally for the Congregation of Notre Dame, but she relishes the work that she has done and the opportunities for collaboration that it has fostered, and plans to remain in her field.