Béla H. Bánáthy
| Béla Heinrich Bánáthy | |
|---|---|
Béla H. Banathy at the 40th anniversary celebration of the White Stag program in 1998
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| Born |
December 1, 1919 Gyula, Hungary |
| Died | 4 September 2003 (aged 83) Chico, California |
| Nationality | Hungarian-American |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Occupation | Educator, systems scientist, professor, author |
| Known for | Founded the White Stag Leadership Development Program, International Systems Institute, co-founder of the General Evolutionary Research Group, president of the International Federation for Systems Research from 1994-98 |
| Spouse(s) | Eva Balazs |
| Children | Béla, László (Leslie), Robert, Tibor |
Béla Heinrich Bánáthy (Hungarian: Bánáthy Béla; December 1, 1919 – September 4, 2003) was the founder of the White Stag Leadership Development Program, organized the International Systems Institute, and was co-founder of the General Evolutionary Research Group, A Hungarian-American who remained loyal to his birth country his entire life, he served as an influential professor of systems theory, systems scientist and professor at San Jose State University and UC Berkeley. He became a widely read and respected author in the United States.
He grew up in largely rural Hungary and served in the Hungarian military during World War II. When Russia invaded Hungary in April 1945, he and his family fled to Allied occupied Austria and lived in a displaced persons camp for six years. In 1951, they emigrated to Chicago, sponsored by the Presbyterian church. Within the year his former commanding officer suggested to the U.S. government that they hire Bánáthy as a Hungarian instructor at the Army Language School in Monterey, California. While living in Monterey, he founded the White Stag Leadership Development Program. His program gained national attention, and the Boy Scouts of America conducted research into incorporating leadership training into its programs. The Boy Scouts of America's Wood Badge and junior leader training programs had until then focused primarily on Scoutcraft skills, not leadership, and William "Green Bar Bill" Hillcourt among others resisted the change.
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