Hauenstein Center Mission Statement

Col. Ralph Hauenstein

Inspired by Ralph Hauenstein’s life of leadership and service, the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies is dedicated to raising a community of ethical, effective leaders for the twenty-first century.

The Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies is built on four cornerstones:

1. Cook Leadership Academy serves university students at all levels of their development. Emerging leaders strive to become more ethical and effective in their community through mentorships and constant engagement with experienced professionals. The Cook Leadership Academy within the Hauenstein Center has become one of the Midwest’s pre-eminent centers for the exploration and development of leadership excellence.

"In the 20th century, I saw with my own eyes the worst that leaders are capable of. In the 21st century, I want to encourage the best leadership possible so that the world will be better for my children's children." ~Ralph Hauenstein

2. Each year we host more than 60 world-class talks, debates, and conferences to inform citizens, leaders, and apprentice-leaders who seek to better position themselves to help solve the challenges that communities, states, and nations face. These enriching events are a gift to the community, free and open to the public.

3. Both our interactive website http://www.allpresidents.org/ and our social media open a window to the world on the scholarship we have produced as a presidential studies center, and the programs we have offered through our leadership academy. Allpresidents’ 700 pages of videos, transcripts, and original scholarship are growing daily, and in seven years have drawn more than 26 million hits from around the globe.

4. Our book collections have been recognized by the Library of Congress as “a uniquely valuable resource.” No other place on earth houses, in one room, all the books written by U.S. presidents. We are also proud to have one of the nation’s leading espionage and intelligence collections.

Inspired by Ralph Hauenstein, we seek to provide a platform for emerging leaders in all three major sectors of public life – for-profit, public, and non-profit. We promote civic engagement that (1) honors the Founders’ vision of a constitutional republic; (2) builds on existing democratic institutions that promote justice, freedom, opportunity, sustainable prosperity, and the rule of law; and (3) envisions the possibilities for creating better communities.

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The Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies adds value to Grand Valley and our students in numerous ways:

• Our world-class programs augment classroom work and book learning by giving students and faculty the opportunity to engage in meaningful conversation with the shapers of our world.
• Our leadership academy helps students discover and cultivate their strengths as leaders through mentoring, experiences, seminars, and classes.
• As a center of civic engagement, the Hauenstein Center opens a window onto Grand Valley as a major up-and-coming university. By bringing diverse citizens into Grand Valley's orbit, we expand the university's reach into the community, promote civic awareness, and enlarge its donor base in challenging economic times. 
• Taken in its entirety, the Hauenstein Center's world-class programs, preeminent leadership academy, cutting-edge website, and one-of-a-kind library add prestige to the university and value to the degrees it confers.

To learn more, visit http://www.allpresidents.org/