The National Council is honored to have two keynote speakers who are internationally recognized leaders in psychology.

Dr. Betty Siegel is the distinguished chair of the Siegel Institute for Leadership, Ethics, & Character and president emeritus at Kennesaw State University. Dr. Siegel was the first woman to head an institution in the 35 unit university system of Georgia and was the longest serving woman president (1981–2006) of a public university in the nation. Under her administration, Kennesaw State University grew from 4,000 students with 15 baccalaureate degree programs to an 18,000 student university with 55 baccalaureate and graduate degree programs. Dr. Siegel is a longtime member and former chair of the Board of Directors of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). She serves on the Commission on Women in Higher Education as well as numerous corporate and community boards. Dr. Betty Siegel and her husband Joel have two sons who are professors and two grandsons.

Since her retirement, Dr. Siegel has implemented many global initiatives that have taken her worldwide to spread the message of leadership, ethics and character and continues to serve, lead, and inspire with the same passion she had as president of Kennesaw State University. The signature program of Dr. Betty Siegel is the Oxford Conclave on Global Ethics, an initiative in higher education launched in 2005. The Conclave serves as a catalyst for a movement to renew higher education's commitment to the development of ethical leadership, and to explore its role as a change agent for social responsibility.

Dr. Alice Eagly is a professor and department chair of psychology at Northwestern University (WA). She is also James Padilla Chair of Arts and Sciences and faculty fellow in Northwestern’s Institute for Policy Research. She has held faculty positions at Michigan State University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Purdue University (IN). Her research interests include the study of gender, attitudes, prejudice, stereotyping, and leadership. She is the author of several books and numerous journal articles. Her latest book, Through the Labyrinth: The Truth About How Women Become Leaders, coauthored with Linda Carli, was published by Harvard Business School Press in conjunction with the Center for Public Leadership of the Kennedy School of Government.

Dr. Eagly has received several awards, including the Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in the Science of Psychology, the Distinguished Scientist Award of the Society for Experimental Social Psychology, the Donald Campbell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Social Psychology, and the Sherif Award for contributions to the psychology of women. Dr. Eagly has served as chair of the Executive Committee of Society of Experimental Social Psychology and of the Board of Scientific Affairs of the APA as well as president of the Midwestern Psychological Society and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.