Hamden L. Forkner

Hamden Landon Forkner, Sr. (March 10, 1897 – November 25, 1975) was an American educator and writer who created Future Business Leaders of America, an educational organization for high school and college students, and developed the Forkner shorthand system for taking dictation.

Biography

He was born on March 10, 1897 to Allen F. Forkner and Lucy Adline Irvine.

Forkner, a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, was the head of the business and vocational education department at Teachers College, Columbia University from 1937 to 1958. During his career, he was also president and permanent honorary vice president of the International Society for Business and Economic Education, and directed technical education surveys for the governments of the Dominican Republic and Mexico.

As an author, Forkner wrote the books “20th Century Bookkeeping & Accounting” (1940, co-authored with Alva Leroy Prickett), “Correlated Dictation and Transcription: Pitman Edition” (1946, co-authored with Agnes E. Osborne and James E. O’Brien), “Developing a Curriculum for Modern Living (1954, co-authored with Florence B. Stratmeyer), and “Study Guide for Forkner Shorthand” (1965, co-authored with Jean G. Hanna and published by his Forkner Publishing Company).^[1][2]

He died on November 25, 1975 at the age of 78.^[3]

Quotes

“Leadership is not the ability to lead others. Leadership is the ability to get others to lead themselves.”

"In the eyes of our students lie the truest monument of tomorrow's history."

References