The life of Leonard R. Fuller is evidence of the existence of the American dream.  The sixth of his mother’s seven children, born to her in poverty when she was 22, Leonard was identified early as a gifted child.  Yet he may have remained among the anonymous gifted poor had not a mentor, Mark Friedman, a wealthy industrialist and philanthropist, appeared during his years at Thomas Jefferson High School to guide him and ultimately underwrite his higher education.  Leonard made mentoring other young men and women a priority throughout his life as a result of the early mentoring he himself received.

After navigating the violent streets of his birthplace, the little-known community of Willowbrook (which borders the city of Compton in the County of Los Angeles), Leonard moved successfully through Harvard Business School where – in his early 20s – he competed with older students already at home in professional life and matched their achievements.  Leonard’s steady climb started when he was hired as an associate professor at California State Polytechnic University (Cal Poly), Pomona where he taught business; then he was recruited into the corporate world where he rose to partnership in, one of the nation's most prominent management consulting firms, Coopers & Lybrand (now Pricewaterhouse Coopers); next he achieved success again as an entrepreneur by opening and leading Fuller Consulting; later in his career, his vast experience and knowledge had become well-known and he was sought out and asked to join multiple not-for-profit boards (including the University of Southern California's Board of Trustees); and when he retired, he sat on 25 different boards of the prestigious Capital Research and Management Company, a firm that ranks among the world's oldest and largest investment management organizations with over $ 2 trillion in assets under management.

Before his death at 74, he lived a full life that centered around his family including a successful lifelong marriage to the love of his life Linda; fatherhood to his son Sheldon; grand-fatherhood to Stella and Theodore; a father-in-law to Sheldon's wife, Jolene; and a devoted son to his mother, LaVerne.  He was a loving brother to his siblings: LaJuana, LaNora, Leon, LaNelle, LaJeana and LaMonte and an uncle to over 30 nieces and Nephews. Despite late-life health concerns, Leonard managed to partake of the richness of his family relations, friendships, his profound love of baseball and music – all of which sustained and enhanced the pathway of a remarkable life.

Leonard traveled all over the world, visiting the African continent 15 times (on one occasion to build a school in rural Kenya). He loved to entertain at home.  He painted portraits towards the end of his life, taking portrait painting lessons at home frequently.  He was an exceedingly rare talent:  a people person, a gifted mathematician, a great writer, a captivating orator, a prominent business thought leader, a prodigious reader who was renowned for his photographic memory, a role model, and a mentor.

Leonard once wrote…….
” I am blessed.  My life has been a long rising arc.  Along the way I have been lifted by the spirit and affections of a tough-love mother and a half-dozen siblings, by strangers and colleagues, by a wife, a son, and friends who have enabled me to pursue my ambitions and achieve a level of success beyond anything I might have imagined as a kid playing in the dust of a soulless housing project, who had no idea whether or not there would be dinner that night. Certainly, I am not unique.  There are thousands of young people born under a sword who see no way out from under.  But there is a way - for those who are willing to work, to believe in themselves and their natural gifts, who value integrity and are determined to run through any obstacle that appears before them."



If you have not already done so, please consider making a donation to the research of Parkinson's Disease being done by Dr. Jeff Bronstein of UCLA, Leonard's neurologist for 18 years.

Click here: http://giving.UCLA.edu/fuller 

Thank you!