Horacio D. Rozanski, President and CEO of Booz Allen Hamilton, to Receive 2020 Horatio Alger Award
Horatio Alger Association names 14 outstanding individuals, each of whom has overcome adversity to achieve professional and personal success, to its Member Class of 2020
WASHINGTON, Dec. 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc., a nonprofit educational organization honoring the achievements of outstanding individuals and encouraging youth to pursue their dreams through higher education, today announced that Horacio D. Rozanski, President and CEO of Booz Allen Hamilton, has been selected for membership in this prestigious organization. Mr. Rozanski joins 13 other exceptional business, civic and cultural leaders from across North America in receiving 2020 honors. For more than 70 years, the Horatio Alger Award has been annually bestowed upon esteemed individuals who have succeeded despite facing adversities, and who have remained committed to higher education and charitable efforts in their communities.
Born into a middle-class Jewish family in Buenos Aires, Mr. Rozanski grew up during a military dictatorship and a period of economic, social and civil unrest in Argentina. He experienced a mediocre and declining educational system, and saw the rise of anti-Semitism, terrorism and eventually the Falklands war. It was a difficult environment to grow up in, full of uncertainty about the future and, at times, real concern about personal safety and the wellbeing of family members. These experiences fostered in Mr. Rozanski independence and self-reliance, as well as a desire to strive for better—economically and, especially, morally. At age 19, seeking a country that afforded opportunity and projected the values he held dear, he left Argentina to attend college in the United States. His future wife, Cinthia, soon joined him, and in 2005, they became American citizens.
Upon his arrival to the United States in 1988, Mr. Rozanski enrolled in the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire on a partial scholarship, studying business administration. After graduating summa cum laude, he received his master's degree from the University of Chicago, earning high honors. Mr. Rozanski started as an intern at Booz Allen Hamilton, a global technology and consulting firm, in its Buenos Aires office before being hired full time in 1992. He was elected to the partnership in 1999 and continued to advance at the company, ultimately rising to president and CEO by 2015. Under his leadership, Booz Allen Hamilton employs nearly 27,000 people and had revenue of $6.7 billion in the year ending March 31, 2019.
"Horacio Rozanski is a man of outstanding character," said Terrence J. Giroux, executive director, Horatio Alger Association. "A visionary leader who climbed the corporate ladder to become the CEO of a massively successful consulting and technology company, he understands that the road to personal and professional fulfillment is often marred with difficult challenges. Horacio embodies the qualities of perseverance and integrity that we seek to honor, and we are privileged to welcome him as a 2020 Member."
Mr. Rozanski champions Booz Allen Hamilton's corporate citizenship programs, which support various causes including STEM education, veterans and military families, health care, and disaster recovery. Under his leadership, the company pledged $5 million to establish the Booz Allen Foundation, which strives to empower people to make a difference in their communities. Mr. Rozanski is a member of the board for the Kennedy Center Corporate Fund and the Children's National Medical Center. He also serves on the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's Committee on Conscience and the American Heart Association's CEO Council.
"I attended the Horatio Alger Awards two years ago as a guest of my good friend and Association Member Linda Rabbitt," said Mr. Rozanski. "I was so moved by the stories of the Members and the Scholars and left feeling inspired and wanting to get involved with this very special group of people. To be selected for Membership and to have the opportunity to continue to give back to the Association is a great honor."
Thanks to the generosity of its Members, the Association awards need-based scholarships to outstanding high school students who are committed to pursuing higher education and giving back to their communities. The Association also educates young people about the limitless opportunities afforded to them by the free-enterprise system through hard work, honesty and determination. Like Association Members, Horatio Alger Scholars have faced significant adversities, but have also displayed unmatched resilience in overcoming their challenges. Since the scholarship program was established in 1984, the Horatio Alger Association has provided more than $180 million to 27,000 students in need, all of which has been funded solely through the generosity of Association Members and friends.
Mr. Rozanski and the Member Class of 2020 will be formally inducted into the Association on April 2-4, 2020, during the Association's 73rd Horatio Alger Award Induction Ceremonies in Washington, D.C. The annual three-day event honors the achievements of both Members and National Scholars, affording both groups the opportunity to meet and interact as well as exchange stories of hardships and triumphs.
For more information about Horatio Alger Association and its Member Class of 2020, please visit www.horatioalger.org and follow the organization on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
About Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans:
Founded in 1947, the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc. is dedicated to the simple but powerful belief that hard work, honesty and determination can conquer all obstacles. The Association honors the achievements of outstanding leaders who have accomplished remarkable successes in spite of adversity by bestowing upon them the Horatio Alger Award and inducting them as lifetime Members. Horatio Alger Members support promising young people with the resources and confidence needed to overcome adversity in pursuit of their dreams through higher education. Through the generosity of its Members and friends, in 2019, the Association awarded more than $21 million in undergraduate and graduate need-based scholarships to 2,500 students across the United States and Canada, and provided college support and mentoring services to its Scholars. Since 1984, the Association has awarded more than $180 million in college scholarships to more than 27,000 deserving students. For more information, please visit www.horatioalger.org.
Booz Allen Media Relations:
James Fisher, Principal
[email protected]
703-377-7595 (office)
Horatio Alger Association:
Carly Buggy
[email protected]
484-385-2934 (office)
SOURCE Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc.
Share this article