What is the Oral History Project?
Notable leaders and leadership scholars serve as narrators for the Tobias Leadership Center’s Oral History Project.
When you explore our oral histories, you’ll hear insights on leadership and extraordinary stories of leadership in action. You will learn about leadership luminaries, the challenges they faced, and the impact they made. Through extended interviews, the leaders examine key turning points in their careers—often during times of crisis—and discuss what decisions they had to make and why they made them.
We conduct interviews to the highest standards prescribed by the American Oral History Association. Michella Marino, an expert in oral history, directs this project.
How were these leaders chosen?
The Oral History Project began under the leadership of the late Gerald Bepko, the Tobias Leadership Center’s Founding Director and IUPUI Chancellor Emeritus. Originally focused on key leaders in Indiana, the project expanded when we partnered with the International Leadership Association (ILA) to conduct oral histories of leaders they honor each year with a lifetime achievement award.
We value inclusion. We are actively engaged in making our leadership stories more inclusive of the range of leaders in our communities.
