America's Best Leaders were chosen by a committee convened by the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. The 35 committee members are leaders themselves in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors and independent of U.S. News and Harvard.

More than 300 names were submitted by committee cochairs David Gergen, a longtime presidential adviser and director of the center (and editor at large of U.S. News ), Warren Bennis, a leadership guru and distinguished professor of business administration at the University of Southern California, other committee members, and a team of eight student researchers. Gergen and Bennis winnowed the list down to 127, and the committee gathered at Harvard in May to make the final selections.

Gergen opened the meeting by asking aloud whether, in the wake of the divisive 2004 elections, the committee--which included former Hillary Clinton chief of staff Maggie Williams and Kenneth Adelman, U.N. ambassador under Ronald Reagan--could get past partisan politics in lobbying for or against nominees. "If I don't agree with George Bush's policies, is he a good leader?" Gergen asked. "If you disagree with Hillary Clinton's positions, is she a bad leader?"

"We didn't assume we could get absolute consensus," he concluded. "What we could do is get to a place of comfort."

The committee then split into four groups, each charged with paring down a list of around 30 candidates from each of four fields: nonprofit, private sector, public service, and "emerging leader." Members were armed with four-point selection criteria drawn up by Gergen and Bennis: accomplishments within the past five years, values, durability, and commitment to developing other leaders.

The committee agreed to eliminate from consideration certain categories of leaders, including the president and past presidents and likely future presidential contenders. To avoid conflicts of interest, it also declined to nominate members of the committee and benefactors of the Center for Public Leadership, such as Leslie Wexner, chairman and CEO of Limited Brands. The group voted by secret ballot and agreed to leave about half of the slots open for more discussion and a second ballot.

At the second meeting, members considered an additional 38 nominees who hadn't made the cut or who had been added at a committee member's suggestion, and they took turns advocating and opposing them. After an hour of debate, one member urged the group to get on with it; future selection committees could reconsider qualified nominees who weren't selected this year. "It would look foolish," she said, "to try to be definitive."

Selection committee members: Kenneth Adelman, John Alexander, Barbara Barrett, Richard Darman, Kenneth Duberstein, Alice Eagly, Len Elmore, Walter Earl Fluker, Alan Gleitsman, Stephen Goldsmith, Peter Gomes, Frances Hesselbein, Karen Holbrook, Ira Jackson, Shirley Jackson, John Kasich, Alan Khazei, Wendy Kopp, Roderick Kramer, Tony Mayo, Pat Mitchell, Georgette Mosbacher, Larry Moses, Betsy Myers, Nitin Nohria, Deborah Rhode, Ann Richards, Kenneth Ruscio, Susan Schwab, David Shaw, Eric Shinseki, Victor Vroom, Maggie Williams. More information on the Best Leaders project can be found at www.usnews.com/leaders .

A Mission To Mold Leaders

The Center for Public Leadership, based at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, aims to develop leaders for the 21st century by connecting theories of leadership to the often messy reality leaders actually encounter.

The center takes a twofold approach, producing scholarship on leadership and engaging in practical training of future public servants. In addition to offering courses and workshops, it sponsors publications and holds public lectures. Since the center was launched in 2000, leadership has become the most popular concentration among Kennedy School students. "People come to the Kennedy School because they want to make the world a better place," says Betsy Meyers, the center's executive director. "Our center is committed to developing them as leaders, to bridging the gap between the classroom and the wider world, so they can leave here prepared to lead for the common good."