The origins of ILR date back to 1988, when the Institute for Management and Leadership Research (IMLR) was founded. In 1997, IMLR was split into the Center for Health Care Strategy (CHCS) and the Institute for Leadership Research (ILR). The formation of separate units allows for a more highly focused and efficient set of activities and programs within each new organization. James G. (Jerry) Hunt served as the founding director of ILR. During Jerry’s tenure as the ILR Director, the Institute partnered with leadership scholars from around the globe to:
● Co-Sponsor Scholarly Leadership Conferences with the University of Mississippi (Oxford, Mississippi, 2000, 2002), Institute for Management Development (IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland, 2003),Center for Creative Leadership (CCL, Greensboro, North Carolina) and the Gallup Leadership Institute/University of Nebrasksa-Lincoln (2004)
● Sponsor and provide partial support for the publication of The Leadership Quarterly (with Jerry Hunt serving as Senior Editor, 1998-2005) by JAI Press and Elsevier.
● Sponsor and provide partial support for the publication of the Journal of Management Inquiry (with Kim Boal serving as Editor-in-Chief with Paul M. Hirsch) by Sage Publications.
● Sponsor and provided partial support for publication of Volumes 1-3 of Elsevier Science Monographs in Leadership and Management Series (with Jerry Hunt serving as Senior Editor).
● Develop, investigate and validate the Leaderplex Model of Leadership consisting of behavioral, cognitive and social complexity
● In 2005 William L. Gardner took over as the ILR Director.
● Festschrift honouring Jerry Hunt held on October 11-12, 2007. Twenty Seven distinguished scholars attended from US, Canada, Israel, Australia, Netherlands and Sweden.
● A special issue of the Leadership Quartely on Meso Modelling of Leadership, featuring papers presented at the Festschrift will be forthcoming August, 2009.