Kenneth “Ken” H. Blanchard
Undergrad college/major: Arts and Sciences/Government.
Affiliations at Cornell: Freshman basketball, cheerleader, President of junior class, Phi Gamma Delta.
Advanced degrees: M.A. in Sociology and Counseling, Colgate Univ; Ph.D in Educational Leadership, Cornell.
Career/occupation description: Author/Teacher/Entrepreneur; Co-founder with my wife, Margie Mckee Blanchard ’62, of The Ken Blanchard Companies (an international leadership and development company).
Honors and awards: The National Speakers Association: “Council of Peers Award of Excellence”; Inducted into the HRD Hall of Fame by Training magazine and Lakewood Conferences; The Golden Gavel Award from Toastmasters International; The Thought Leadership Award for continued support of work-related learning and performance by ISA—The Association of Learning Providers; Amazon’s Hall of Fame as one of the top 25 best-selling authors of all time.
Important affiliations: ASTD International; Trustee Emeritus, Cornell.
Published work: Over fifty books including The One Minute Manager, Raving Fans, Gung
Ho, Leading at a Higher Level, and Lead
Like Jesus.
Marital status: Married.
Spouse: Marjorie McKee Blanchard ’62; MA ’67.
Children: Scott
Blanchard ’88; Debbie Blanchard,
Grandchildren: Kurtis Blanchard (13), Kyle Blanchard (12), Alec Medina (5), Atticus Hickok (18); Hannah Hickok (21).
Single outstanding memory of Cornell: The fabulous students that went there and the great times we had growing and glowing together.
How has your life differed from what you expected? After I graduated I expected to go to graduate school and become a dean of students. Thirty years ago when Margie and I started our company, we couldn’t even spell the word, entrepreneur, and now we is one! Post-grad Cornell activities: M.S. Sociology and Counseling, Colgate (’63); Ph.D. Educational Leadership, Cornell (’67); Administrative Assistant to the Dean; Assistant Professor of Management; School of Business Administration, Ohio University (66-70); Professor of Educational Leadership, UMass (’70-76); Sabbatical leave in California (76-????) Never went back! The Ken Blanchard Companies (’79); celebrated our 30th anniversary, 2009 - The One Minute Manager published in 1982, selling over 13 million copies and still on the best seller list today.
Personal reflections: I’ve always said that life is a very special occasion and I’m glad that I have not missed it. At graduation reunion time, Margie and I will be celebrating our 49th anniversary. She has been a blessing in my life, as well as our kids, Scott and Debbie, and now our five grandchildren. I think what has been important in maintaining balance in my life is the realization that God comes first, Margie second, our kids and grandkids come third, and my work comes fourth. Whenever those have gotten out of order, problems have occurred. Going back to those basic rank ordered four, has kept my life on an even keel and has been a real blessing. One other thing. Our son Scott was the fifth generation at Cornell as Margie’s whole family are Big Red Alumni, including her mother and father, grandparents, great grandparents, and great uncle, along with her two sisters, Wendy and Nancy. Margie’s dad and mom bought 300 feet of lake frontage at Skaneateles lake in 1946 for $300; that has been a wonderful gift to the whole family and now we have our own cottage, our son and his wife have their own, and Skaneateles is where we spend our summers. That has been a wonderful balancing strategy.