The American Academy of Achievement is unlike any other organization in the world. For six decades, our nonprofit foundation has sparked the imaginations and raised the aspirations of extraordinary young people across the United States and around the globe by bringing them into direct personal contact with the preeminent leaders and innovators of our times. The American Academy of Achievement was founded by Brian Blaine Reynolds, an acclaimed photographer best known for his contributions to Life magazine and Sports Illustrated. The Academy’s first annual Banquet of the Golden Plate program was held at Monterey, California in September of 1961. The Academy’s annual gatherings transfer knowledge, inspiration and the benefit of extraordinary life history from one generation of established achievers to the next generation of young people, who will, in turn, become leaders in their respective fields. The Academy has provided thousands of outstanding young scholars, scientists and social entrepreneurs with all-expense-paid life-changing experiences, through which the rising generations whose dreams will determine our collective tomorrow have drawn inspiration from those individuals who have shaped our world of today. Since 1961, these generation-spanning forums have allowed exceptional young scholars to interact one-on-one with Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winners in the arts and sciences, public servants, explorers, humanitarians, champion athletes, entrepreneurs, entertainers, and countless others who represent achievement in their respective fields. Such personal encounters send an enormously powerful message to young people raised in a world that so often values the superficial and ephemeral over the monumental and enduring.