Bios

Penny George, PsyD

Penny Pilgram George is a leader in innovative philanthropic efforts to transform medicine. A psychologist for more than 20 years, so co-founded Sellergren-George Consulting Psychologists, where she helped organizations identify and develop successful leaders.

She is also co-founder of the Bravewell Collaborative, a national collaboration of philanthropists dedicated to transforming the culture and delivery of health care through the principles of integrative medicine.

With her husband Bill, Penny George co-founded what is now called the Penny George Institute for Health and Healing at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. This program has become the largest inpatient based integrative medicine program in the country.

William W. George

Bill George is a professor of management practice at Harvard Business School, where he has taught leadership since 2004. He is the author of four best-selling books True North, Finding Your True North, Authentic Leadership, and 7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis.

Mr. George is the former chairman and chief executive officer of Medtronic. He joined Medtronic in 1989 as President and Chief Operating Officer, was Chief Executive Officer from 1991-2001, and Chairman of the Board from 1996 to 2002. Earlier in his career, he was an executive with Honeywell and Litton Industries and served in the U.S. Department of Defense.

Mr. George currently serves as a director of ExxonMobil and Goldman Sachs, and also recently served on the board of Novartis and Target Corporation. He is also currently a trustee of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, World Economic Forum USA and the Guthrie Theater. He has been named one of "Top 25 Business Leaders of the Past 25 Years" by PBS; "Executive of the Year-2001" by the Academy of Management; and "Director of the Year-2001-02" by the National Association of Corporate Directors. Mr. George has made frequent appearances on television and radio, including: The Charlie Rose Show, The Today Show, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, NOW, CNBC, Bloomberg News, and NPR. His articles have appeared in Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Fortune, Harvard Business Review, and numerous other publications.

Mr. George received his BSIE with high honors from Georgia Tech, his MBA with high distinction from Harvard University, where he was a Baker Scholar, and honorary PhDs from Georgia Tech and Bryant University. During 2002-03 he was professor at IMD International and Ecole Polytechnique in Lausanne, Switzerland, and executive-in-residence at Yale School of Management.

Gayle M. Ober

Gayle Ober is the executive director of the George Family Foundation where she is responsible for managing all aspects of the grantmaking process, advising and assisting the Trustees in meeting their grantmaking goals and serving as the Foundation’s first point of contact to the community.

Ober serves the non-profit community through her present and past service on a variety of boards and committees including the Mardag Foundation, Chorus America, Children’s Home Society and Family Services, The Saint Paul Foundation, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and others.

Gayle Ober holds a bachelor of music degree from the University of Minnesota and a master’s of non-profit management degree from Hamline University. She lives in Mendota Heights, Minnesota with her family.