Our president, Joan Blumenthal, has over 25 years of business experience, primarily in the non-for-profit/higher education arena. She formed Blumenthal-Hart Ltd., a Chicago based, retained, executive search firm in 1999. Ms. Blumenthal has over ten years in executive search. Previously Ms. Blumenthal had been with the Education/Not-for-profit search practice of a well-known, international search firm. She also served as associate vice president of a mid-sized boutique firm where she executed numerous corporate, higher education, and not-for-profit searches.

Ms. Blumenthal was director of development at St. Francis Hospital, Evanston, IL and held development and alumni relations positions at Roosevelt University. Earlier, with Underwriters Laboratories, she held engineering and accounting/finance positions and was director of UL’s corporate employee benefits. Prior to UL, Ms. Blumenthal owned a manufacturing and distribution business and taught junior high school in Cambridge, MA and Menlo Park, CA .

Ms. Blumenthal graduated with a Bachelors of Arts from San Jose State University and earned a Masters of Business Administration from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management.

Active in the Union League Club of Chicago, Ms. Blumenthal was one of the first women to serve on its Board of Directors. She is on the Board of the Union League Boys & Girls Clubs where she was as member of the Human Resources committee and now a member of the Development Committee. She is also a member of the Executives' Club of Chicago.

Ms. Blumenthal has lectured at colleges and professional organizations on career management and fundraising topics. She has been quoted in various publications, including the Wall street Journal and Crain’s Chicago Business.