Pleasant Rowland

Pleasant Rowland (born Pleasant Williams Thiele; March 8, 1941) is an American educator, reporter, writer, entrepreneur and philanthropist. Rowland is best known for creating the American Girl brand. She is also notable for her efforts to redevelop historic properties in Aurora, New York, where she created a partnership with her alma mater Wells College.

She has been married to philanthropist Jerome Frautschi since 1977. Frautschi's family owns Webcrafters printing company.

Rowland was born in Chicago and grew up in Bannockburn, a suburb north of Chicago. She is the oldest of three sisters and a brother. Her sister Barbara Whitney Carr is president of the Chicago Horticultural Society. Her father was Edward Thiele, a Chicago advertising executive who eventually became president of the Leo Burnett ad agency.

After graduating from Wells College in 1962, Rowland embarked on the first of several careers. From 1962 to 1968, she was a schoolteacher in several states. She was a news reporter and anchor for the ABC station KGO-TV from 1968 to 1971.

Rowland left that industry to pursue a career as a textbook writer. For several years she was involved in writing and publishing children's textbooks. She was also the publisher of the Children's Magazine Guide. In the 1970s, Rowland created a comprehensive language arts program, called Beginning to Read, Write, and Listen. It was informally known as the "letterbooks", and designed to be used for kindergarten and first grade students. Through the years the program has undergone several revisions and updates.

In 1986 Rowland founded the Pleasant Company, which manufactures the "American Girl" dolls, books and accessories. Rowland was inspired to create the American Girl brand because of her longstanding interest in history. A visit to Colonial Williamsburg led her to think that young girls might become interested in history through identifying with dolls based on historic periods. Each doll is designed with a story that places it in a specific historical time period. Books, clothing and other accessories are marketed separately for each doll.

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