Lead ~ Serve ~ Learn
Mason's Resource For:
Francis Nurthen III
Fran served as Chief of Human Resources Development at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Headquarters in Washington, D.C from 1990 until he retired in 2002. He was responsible for workforce and leadership development, program planning and evaluation and labor and employee relations.
His efforts at the Corps were acknowledged when the Alan K. Campbell Public Affairs Institute of Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs along with the Government Executive magazine distinguished the Corps of Engineers with a top ranking for human resources. The Government Performance Project (GPP) was a unique blend of university and media study and journalistic investigation and rigorous evaluation. Fran’s leadership laid the foundation for the Corps continued high ratings on the Human Capital portion of the President’s Management Agenda.
After leaving the Corps in 2002, Fran joined the staff at the Academy of Leadership at the University of Maryland. He served as the Academy’s Director of Federal Leadership Programs. In this position he learned from, and collaborate with, some of the nation’s leading leadership scholars.
In October 2003 Fran joined the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business as a Senior Fellow in the Office of Executive Education. While at the Smith School he instructed Leadership for Learning course for the Corps of Engineers.
Fran currently has a private consulting practice. As a consultant he helps organizations understand the strengths of leadership needed to transform and align with vision and strategy. The transformation he facilitates focuses on strengths, the development of high quality connections, systems thinking, and adaptive learning. This is all accomplished in the context of creating, and developing toward, the organization’s ideal future. He consults to Weston Solutions (West Chester, Pa), the Gallup Organization, the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania and Operations Research Consultants (Fairfax, VA).
Fran recently helped develop and present a Positive Organizational Leadership course, which was included in the University of Pennsylvania’s first Master of Applied Positive Psychology. This leadership course examined the application of positive psychology to leadership development and organizational change. He completed the Appreciative Inquiry Workshop at Case Western Reserve’s Weatherhead School of Management in April 2006. This program integrates advances in appreciative inquiry, positive psychology, collaborative learning with business and society change. The leadership program Fran developed for Weston Solutions is considered a model in the environmental and redevelopment industry.
With more than 35 years of experience in human resources development and organizational change Fran understands the concepts and actions needed to transform organizations. Fran is an excellent presenter of these important leadership concepts, and inspires, involves, and motivates leaders to action. He is reflecting, thinking and writing about his leadership selection and development experiences.
Fran Nurthen, 6961 Scenic Pointe, Manassas, VA 20112 Phone 703-772-5116
nurthen@mac.com