The undisputed monarch of the blues guitar, B.B. King was born on a cotton plantation in the Mississippi Delta. As a child he learned the rudiments of his instrument from his preacher and was soon performing blues and gospel songs on street corners. In 1947 he hitchhiked to Memphis,...

An illustrious star of Hollywood's Golden Age, Olivia de Havilland made her screen debut at 19 and soon became the screen's favorite romantic heroine, starring in a popular series of adventure films with leading man Errol Flynn, including such favorites as Captain Blood, The Adventures of Robin...

Although the historian Stephen Ambrose (1936 - 2002) wrote over 30 books, he was almost as well-known to the public for his appearances on television's political discussion programs, where he was frequently called upon to discuss the American presidency, the history of the American West...

For over 40 years Johnny Cash wrote and sang about the lives of hard-scrabble farmers, homeless drifters, broken-down cowhands, broken-hearted lovers and men behind bars. He gave a voice to the lonesome and the lost, the dispossessed and the disillusioned. He came by this sympathy...

As a child, Maya Angelou was traumatized by abuse. For five years, she was silent, but in time, she found her voice, and that voice has been heard around the world. A single mother at age 16, she embarked on a remarkable career as an actress and entertainer, as a journalist, educator and...

Oprah Winfrey's public speaking career began in 1957. At three, she was speaking in church, by her teens she was touring the churches of Nashville, reciting the sermons of James Weldon Johnson. Other children sang, Oprah talked. And she's still talking -- but to much larger audiences. The...

A pioneer of contemporary Christian music, Amy Grant is the best-selling Christian music artist of all time. She made her recording debut while still in her teens and released the first record of Christian music to go platinum, selling over a million copies. She soon achieved an...

The acclaimed presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin was born in Brooklyn, and grew up in Rockville Center, Long Island. Her invalid mother encouraged her love of books, while her father shared her love of baseball; she traces her interest in history to her childhood experience...

Like a lot of children, the six-year-old Stephen Jay Gould was fascinated by dinosaurs, but in his case that interest led to one of the most remarkable and celebrated careers in modern science. From his beginnings as a young paleontologist, with field expertise in the multifarious snails...

Raised on a farm in Bloomington, Indiana, Joshua Bell was given his first violin when he was four years old after his parents noticed him picking out melodies on a pair of rubber bands he had stretched between the knobs of his dresser. He first came to national attention at the age of 14 in a...

Aretha Franklin is known the world over as the Queen of Soul Music. In the 1960s, her hit recording "Respect" became an anthem of the civil rights struggle and a theme song for the dawning women's movement. He musical career began in the New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit,...

Singer-songwriter, musician and record producer, Lionel Richie, has sold more than 100 million records worldwide. A former student at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, in 1968, he became a part of the successful Commodores recording group. He began to write songs geared to the pop audience,...

Sir Richard Branson is the Founder and Chairman of the Virgin Group of Companies, a global publishing, aviation and entertainment conglomerate of over 400 companies based in London, England. He started his empire and $4 billion personal fortune from scratch when he was 15 years old....

An internationally renowned icon of American music, Dolly Parton is one of her country's most versatile and best-loved entertainers. Born on a farm in the hardscrabble hill country of Eastern Tennessee, she sang and wrote songs from early childhood. By age ten, she was singing on a radio...

He has recorded in a dazzling variety of styles, from the hard bop of his youth to the free jazz, avant-garde, fusion, Latin jazz, funk and R&B of subsequent decades. A formidable composer and bandleader, he is unparalleled in his imagination and expressiveness as a soloist. A...

The most successful motion picture director of all time, Steven Spielberg first made his name as a master showman of adventure and fantasy, with blockbusters like Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark and ET: The Extraterrestrial. He entered a new phase in his career...

The legendary quarterback Roger Staubach was the star of the Dallas Cowboys in the 1970s, famed for his daring fourth quarter plays. A high school standout in basketball, baseball and football, he attended the United States Naval Academy, where he won the 1963 Heisman Trophy as the...

James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer and songwriter. Eventually referred to as "The Godfather of Soul", Brown started singing in gospel groups and worked his way on up. He has been recognized as one of the most iconic figures in the 20th century...

June Carter Cash was born into the world of country music, a child of the legendary Carter Family, who brought country music to a national audience in the 1930s. Her mother Maybelle Carter was the most celebrated practitioner of the so-called "Carter Scratch" or "Carter picking" guitar style,...

Taylor Swift's self-titled debut album -- recorded when she was still in high school -- sold more than three million copies. A prodigiously talented singer and songwriter, she wrote every song on the album, including the year’s number one country single, "Our Song." Her dedication to music...

Ray Charles (1930 -2004) was born in Albany, Georgia, at the beginning of the Great Depression. He began to lose his sight in his early childhood, and was completely blind by age seven. At age 15, he was an orphan. At 16, he moved on his own to Seattle, Washington to make a career in...

In recognition of Women's History Month, the Academy of Achievement presents a selection of extraordinary women who have defied expectations, broken boundaries, and made history around the world. They include courageous political leaders and human rights activists, recipients of the...

Sheryl Crow's warm voice, vibrant stage presence and rock-solid musicianship have made her one of the most enduring stars of our era. Her songwriting craft is firmly rooted in rock tradition, but her allusive, free-associative lyrics are all her own. Her songs, "All I Wanna Do," "If It...

In novels such as the modern classic, Beloved, Toni Morrison has fused history and legend, realism and fantasy, to craft an epic saga of African American life. Although her work is steeped in local history and folklore, the fundamental human values of her art have captured the hearts of readers...

While Loretta Lynn's songs have become part of America's musical heritage, her life has become the stuff of legend. The coal miner's daughter from Butcher Holler, Kentucky was married at age 14 and a mother of four by the time she was 18. Encouraged by her husband after he heard her...

For 50 years, the Academy of Achievement has invited the world's pre-eminent authors to address its annual Summit. Novelists and playwrights, journalists and historians, critics and humorists, poets and songwriters, essayists and philosophers, all have shared their wisdom with the...

Taylor Swift's self-titled debut album -- recorded when she was still in high school -- sold more than three million copies. A prodigiously talented singer and songwriter, she wrote every song on the album, including the year’s number one country single, "Our Song." Her dedication to music...

Herschel Walker was born in Augusta, Georgia and grew up outside of Wrightsville, Georgia. For the first eleven years of his life, Herschel Walker showed little interest in sports; he preferred reading books and writing poetry. At age 12, however, he began a crash exercise program. Over...

With the release of his debut album in 1972, Jackson Browne joined the elite rank of American singer-songwriters who shaped the musical ethos of an era. He captured the mood of the 1970s with the introspective songs on his albums Late For the Sky and The Pretender, as well as his greatest...

In celebration of Black History Month, the Academy of Achievement presents a host of outstanding African American leaders in the arts, sciences, business, sports and public service. Among the most honored and admired men and women of our times, they include heroes of the Civil...

For over 30 years, Michael Douglas has been a dominant figure in the world of motion pictures as both actor and producer. His 50-plus films have had an indelible impact on the spirit of our times. He first achieved national recognition playing a young detective on the long-running...

With his plainspoken, unpretentious style, Tim Russert transformed the landscape of broadcast news. Audiences outside Washington relied on his unparalleled insights into the Capitol scene, while Beltway insiders hailed his program as the most important hour on television. As moderator of Meet the...

Salman Khan founded the nonprofit Khan Academy with the mission of providing free, high-quality education for “anyone, anywhere” in the world. Born in Metairie, Louisiana, to immigrant parents from India and Bangladesh, Khan graduated from MIT in 1998 with three degrees:...

Ron Howard is an award-winning actor, film director, and producer. He came to prominence as a child actor, playing Opie Taylor in the sitcom "The Andy Griffith Show" for eight years, and later as the teenager Richie Cunningham in the sitcom "Happy Days" for six years. Howard made film...

Alan M. Dershowitz is a lawyer, jurist, and political commentator. He has spent most of his career at Harvard Law School where in 1967, at the age of 28, he became the youngest full professor of law in its history. He has held the Felix Frankfurter professorship there since 1993. ...

Chuck Jones was born in Spokane, Washington. He moved, with his family to Southern California when he was only six months old. The family moved often, living at various times in Hollywood and Newport Beach. In Hollywood, the young boy was able to observe the still-young film industry. He...

Edward O. Wilson's childhood fascination with insects and other living things matured into an intellectual passion that fired one of the greatest careers in modern science. Wilson made his first major entomological discovery at age 13. By the time he completed graduate school he was...

In the last decades of the 20th century, a revolution in information technology transformed commerce and consciousness, just as the printing press transformed civilization 500 years before. These advances in computer technology and communications would have remained the province of...

On November 4, 2008, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois was elected President of the United States. The first African American to be elected to the nation's highest office, his victory is a milestone in American history. The son of a white mother from Kansas and a black father from Kenya, Obama...

"If somebody gave me a hundred feet of film, I made a movie out of it." When George Lucas was attending USC Film School he didn't even need a hundred feet. While still a student, he turned 32 feet of 16 millimeter film into a one-minute animated short that not only won awards at festivals...

Since she first hit the charts with "Don't Make Me Over" in 1962, the unmistakable voice and flawless musicianship of Dionne Warwick have made her an international musical legend. Her soulful blend of pop, gospel and soul styles has transcended musical and cultural boundaries. She began...

In recognition of Women's History Month, the Academy of Achievement presents a selection of extraordinary women who have defied expectations, broken boundaries, and made history around the world. They include courageous political leaders and human rights activists, recipients of the...

In recognition of Women's History Month, the Academy of Achievement presents a selection of extraordinary women who have defied expectations, broken boundaries, and made history around the world. They include courageous political leaders and human rights activists, recipients of the...

When Katie Couric joined The Today Show in 1991, the oldest of America's morning news programs was floundering in the ratings, but her cheerful personality and unpretentious charm quickly made it the most popular morning show in America. Couric soon proved she was more than a mere television...

Live presentations by the leaders, visionaries and pioneers who have helped shape our world. Learn how the core principles of passion, vision, preparation, courage, perseverance and integrity helped these leaders shape their achievements and their lives. Discover how to apply these...

In celebration of Black History Month, the Academy of Achievement presents a host of outstanding African American leaders in the arts, sciences, business, sports and public service. Among the most honored and admired men and women of our times, they include heroes of the Civil...

Sean John Combs, also known by his stage name, Diddy (formerly Puff Daddy or P. Diddy), is an American rapper, singer, record producer and record company executive. Combs was born in Harlem, New York. His father, who had underworld ties, was shot to death when Sean was only three. The rest...