Jeffrey Sonnenfeld
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld is the Senior Associate Dean for Leadership Programs and the Lester Crown Professor of Leadership Practice at the Yale School of Management. He is also the Founder and President of the Chief Executive Leadership Institute, a nonprofit education and research organization focused on CEO leadership, corporate governance, and board effectiveness. Under his leadership, Yale’s executive education programs have expanded significantly, growing from approximately 100 executives per year to more than 2,000 annually. Each year, these programs convene hundreds of leading global CEOs, corporate directors, and senior executives for discussions on leadership, governance, and public policy. Sonnenfeld is widely recognized for his scholarship on executive leadership, CEO succession planning, board governance, and crisis management. His research has been published in more than 100 scholarly articles in leading academic journals in management and organizational behavior. Sonnenfeld has advised senior policymakers at the White House, the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Treasury Department, and the Council of Economic Advisers on issues including economic sanctions and corporate responses to geopolitical conflict. Before joining Yale, Sonnenfeld spent ten years on the faculty of Harvard Business School. He also served on the faculty of Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, where he held leadership roles in executive education and management research.
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld Professional Experience / Academic History
Professional Experience
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Senior Associate Dean for Leadership Studies and Lester Crown Professor in the Practice of Management
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Professor
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Associate Professor
Academic History
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D.B.A., Organizational Behavior Studies
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M.B.A., General Management
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A.B., Psychology and Social Relations, Magna Cum Laude
RESEARCH & THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld is widely recognized for bridging academic research with real world corporate leadership.
His work shapes global conversations on corporate governance, CEO leadership, board effectiveness, stakeholder capitalism, and institutional trust.
Through the Chief Executive Leadership Institute at the Yale School of Management, he convenes leading CEOs, board directors, policymakers, and investors to address pressing economic, regulatory, and geopolitical challenges.
Sonnenfeld serves on the boards of Lennar, one of the largest homebuilders in the United States, IEX, Atlas Merchant Capital, and the Ellis Island Honor Society.
He is a frequent keynote speaker before executive audiences and regularly appears on major U.S. television networks to provide commentary on leadership, governance, and economic issues.
RECOGNITIONS
Sonnenfeld has received numerous honors for his impact on business education and corporate governance.
Businessweek named him one of the world’s ten most influential business school professors, and Directorship recognized him as one of the 100 most influential figures in governance.
He was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2018. He received the 2023 Greatest Impact on Corporate Boards award from Corporate Board Member magazine and the 2023 Distinguished Scholar Practitioner Award from the Academy of Management.
He was Harvard’s first John Whitehead Faculty Fellow and has earned outstanding educator awards at Yale, Emory University, and the American Society for Training and Development.
He is also the first academic to ring the opening bells of both the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market, having done so multiple times.
MEDIA PRESENCE & PUBLICATIONS
Sonnenfeld is the author of several influential books on leadership and governance, including The Hero’s Farewell, an award winning study of CEO succession, and Firing Back, which examines leadership resilience in times of crisis.
His academic research has appeared in leading peer reviewed journals such as Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Social Forces, Human Relations, and Human Resource Management.
His work is regularly cited in major global media outlets, including BusinessWeek, Fortune, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Newsweek, Time, The Economist, Financial Times, The Washington Post, CBS 60 Minutes, NBC Today, ABC Nightline, CNN, Fox News, PBS, and CNBC.