Muriel Summers

Muriel Summers is an award-winning American educator and co-author of The Leader in Me: How Schools and Parents Around the World Are Inspiring Greatness, One Student at a Time, written with Stephen R. Covey, Sean Covey, and David K. Hatch. She served as principal of A.B. Combs Leadership Magnet Elementary School in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she and her staff created what is recognized as the first leadership elementary school in the world using FranklinCovey’s The Leader in Me process based on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Under her leadership, A.B. Combs became the original Leader in Me school and twice received Magnet Schools of America’s top national magnet school recognition, among numerous state and national honors.

Summers holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a master’s degree in elementary education from UNC Charlotte, a master’s degree in school administration from the University of Maryland, and an honorary doctorate from California University. She was named Wake County Public School System Principal of the Year for 2016–17 and has been recognized with distinctions including North Carolina’s Women to Watch and the William B. Friday Medal of Honor for her contributions to education. After more than four decades in public education, she has continued to serve as a Global Ambassador for the Leader in Me, sharing the leadership model with schools across the United States and abroad.[9