TheAmerican Academy of Achievement[1] (colloquially known as theAcademy of Achievement) is anonprofit corporation[1] that recognizes some of high-achieving people in diverse fields[2] and gives them the opportunity to meet one another.[3] The academy also brings together the leaders with promisinggraduate students formentorship.[4][5] It hosts an International Achievement Summit, which ends with an awards ceremony, during which new members are inducted into the academy.[2][6][7]
Chuck Berry presenting Golden Plate Award to Bob Dylan - 2003 American Academy of Achievement Summit - DC
Founded in 1961 bySports Illustrated andLIFE magazine photographerBrian Reynolds, the American Academy of Achievement recognizes high achievers in public service, business, science and exploration, sports, and the arts.[5][8] Reynolds established the academy after realizing that the famous people he photographed from different fields did not usually get to meet one another. A 1989San Francisco Chronicle article called the organization "little-publicized but immensely powerful". According toWilliam DeVries, who helped develop the first artificial heart, "It is a social network. Like a club. Now I can callChuck Yeager up, orPhilip 'Bo' Knight, and they'll return my calls, ask me out places. I promised myself I would never ask the people here for money, but I know a lot of scientists who do."[3] Reynolds also wanted to bring together highly accomplished leaders with promising students, to inspire them.[9][10] At the 1990 summit in Chicago, for example, student delegates "rubbed shoulders" withRonald Reagan,Maya Angelou andMichael Jordan,[11] and in 1995, students met with inductees includingGeorge H. W. Bush,Ruth Bader Ginsburg,Lady Bird Johnson,Robin Williams,Mike Krzyzewski andRosa Parks.[12]
In 1985, Reynolds's son, Wayne Reynolds, took over the leadership, becoming the executive director of the academy.[3] In 1999, he was selected as theboardchairman.[2][8][15] In the 1990s, Reynolds moved the organization's headquarters fromMalibu, California, toWashington, D.C.[16]
In 2007, the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation donated $9 million to the academy.[16][15][17][18]
Oprah Winfrey presents Sidney Poitier with the Gold Medal of the American Academy of Achievement in Los Angeles in 2014.Justice Anthony M. Kennedy and Steven Tyler at dinner at the Metropolitan Museum of Art during the American Academy of Achievement's 2019 International Achievement Summit
2006 Summit Hosts Steven Spielberg and George Lucas welcome the academy delegates and members to the International Achievement Summit in Los Angeles2012 Aretha Franklin is joined onstage by Academy Awards Council member General Colin Powell during her performance to close the evening of the 50th annual Banquet of the Golden Plate ceremonies in Washington, D.C.
The annual summit is attended by graduate students and young innovators from the U.S. and overseas, likeSergey Brin andLarry Page, computer science graduate students who later foundedGoogle.[19][20] The summits were originally attended by high school students chosen for their academic achievement and extracurricular activities.[2] Preceding the awards dinner are three days of panels, presentations and informal dialogues between the students and inductees. Many inductees return multiple years to participate in the panels, programming and networking.[21]
The 2002 summit was held inDublin, and was hosted by then-Taoiseach (prime minister) and inducteeBertie Ahern. Former PresidentBill Clinton held private talks during the summit with Irish nationalist politicianJohn Hume that reportedly concerned theconflict in Northern Ireland as well as other international conflicts.[31] New inductees into the academy in 2002 included Clinton,U2 lead singerBono,[32] and Afghan presidentHamid Karzai.[31]
Ray Dalio at the International Achievement Summit's 2012 Banquet of the Golden Plate reception in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Barbara, and two American Academy of Achievement student delegates, Philip Thigo of Kenya and Julia Fan Li of Canada.
^ab"Dazzling Decorations, Fine Food: Golden Plate Planned for 1962: First Annual Event Wins High Praise".Monterey Peninsula Herald. September 11, 1961.
^ab"Banquet will honor 50 for Achievement".The Milwaukee Sentinel. September 7, 1961.
^"Achievement Awards Dinner Set".Oakland Tribune. July 12, 1961.
^Wade, Larry (July 14, 1983). "American Academy of Achievement fills Coronado with famous names".Coronado Journal.
^Silverman, Rachel Emma (July 23, 1999). "Fame: The Glitziest Gathering Nobody Knows - Obscure Academy Honors Students and Celebrities".The Wall Street Journal.
^Perez, Robert (May 30, 1991). "Teen to Meet the Rich and Famous".Orlando Sentinel.
^abBertelson, Christine (June 16, 1992). "Nourishing A Poetic Hunger".St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
^Whitcraft, Chris (June 27, 1970). "Dollars and Sense: Mortgage Bank Unit Does Fine".Austin American-Statesman. p. 7.
^"2002 Summit".Academy of Achievement. November 12, 2022. RetrievedJune 12, 2025.
^Warren, Ellen (June 14, 2004)."A meeting of the minds".Chicago Tribune. RetrievedJune 9, 2025.Sir Paul, a charming Brit, who is also a knight, was inducted into the academy in Dublin in 2002 along with Daley, Henry Kissinger, and Chuck Barry.
^Nix, Shann (June 26, 1989). "Looking Up to The Stars / Where 50 top celebs dazzle 400 students".San Francisco Chronicle. p. B3.
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