Elizabeth “Betty” Hale
B.A. in Health, Physical Education and Recreation, ’63
Named to the Alumni Hall of Fame in 2001

In July 2001, Elizabeth L. “Betty” Hale was appointed President of the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL) in Washington, D.C. She has served the Institute since 1976, rising through the leadership ranks as Vice President and Director of IEL’s flagship national education leadership development program, the Education Policy Fellowship Program.

IEL is a national not-for-profit education leadership organization that develops and implements programs and initiatives designed to connect policy, practice and research leaders. Based on its work in states, cities and communities across the country, IEL shares promising practices, translates its own and others’ research into practical suggestions for improvement, and spreads the word in print, via the Web and in person.

Betty's varied professional experiences include serving as an education budget analyst in the Governor's Office, State of Illinois; as the Director of Training Programs for Head Start in the regional office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and at the state level. She has worked as a teacher and taught with the Department of Defense schools at military installations in Japan, Ethiopia, Turkey, and Italy. Betty consults with schools, state agencies and other projects and initiatives across the country.

She serves on the advisory board of Cable in the Classroom and Pre-K-Now, and is a member of the Board of Overseers of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program. Betty holds graduate degrees from Harvard University's Graduate School of Education (Ed. M.) and the John F. Kennedy School of Government (M.P.A.). In 2005, Betty was awarded the HGSE Alumni Council’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to Education.