Jepson School of Leadership Studies

The Jepson School of Leadership Studies, founded in 1992 at the University of Richmond, is dedicated to the academic study of leadership. The school is named for Robert S. Jepson, Jr., an alumnus who donated $20 million to establish the school. Jepson students, who must apply in their second year of college for admission to the school, study a cross-disciplinary curriculum that focuses on moral leadership and service to society. Graduating students of the Jepson School, housed in Jepson Hall, receive a Bachelor of Arts in leadership studies. The late James MacGregor Burns, a noted presidential biographer and authority on leadership studies, served as a founding advisor and visiting scholar at the school.

Each academic year, notable leaders at the local, state, and national level are invited to serve as Leaders-in-Residence within the Jepson school. Particularly notable holders of this position have included: Leo K. Thorsness, Eugene W. Hickok, Tim Kaine, Mary Sue Terry, and Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr..