Brian O'Connell

Brian O'Connell "is founding president of INDEPENDENT SECTOR, the national umbrella organization for philanthropy and voluntary action, and a founder of Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University. O’Connell served as president and chief executive officer of INDEPENDENT SECTOR from 1980 to 1995 and as Tufts professor of citizenship and public service from 1995 to 2006. Previously, he served as president of the National Council on Philanthropy and executive director of the Coalition of National Voluntary Organizations. Throughout his career he has bridged the worlds of action and writing. His latest book is Fifty Years in Public Causes: Stories From a Road Less Traveled. Among his current assignments are the boards of The Bridgespan Group, The Cape Cod Foundation and Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts. He is an elected Fellow of the American Public Health Association and the National Academy of Public Administration and has received several honorary degrees including a doctorate of humanities from Fairleigh Dickinson University, and of laws from Indiana University. He is director emeritus of the National Mental Health Association, president emeritus of INDEPENDENT SECTOR and trustee emeritus of Tufts. He is a graduate of Tufts and a recipient of its Distinguished Alumni Award and did his graduate work at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse. He is the husband of Ann Brown O'Connell and the father of Todd and Matthew O'Connell and Tracey O'Connell Sperry."

• Council of Advocates, Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service

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