Richard Stearns Biography

By bigz555

  • Richard Stearns Born

    Richard Stearns was born into a family of working-class parents in Syracuse, New York. He grew up the younger of two children to a father who had a drinking problem, filed for bankruptcy twice and was on his third marriage. Neither of his parents finished high school.

  • Stears meets Renee

    While a senior at Cornell, he met a freshman named Reneé Legg. On their first date, she pulled out a Campus Crusade for Christ pamphlet. As an atheist, Stearns had mixed feelings about Christianity. After dating for several months, he asked her to choose between him and God. She chose God, leaving him heartborken.

  • Graduation from Cornell

    Stearns graduates from Cornell University, earning a bachelor’s degree in neurobiology.

  • Beginning of Professional Career

    After receiving a master’s degree in business administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Stearns began a career in marketing for several Fortune 500 companies, starting with the Gillette Company.

  • Parker Brothers Games

    From 1977 to 1985, Stearns held various roles with Parker Brothers Games, culminating in his appointment as president in 1984.

  • The Franklin Mint

    Stearns became a vice president at The Franklin Mint

  • Lenox Company

    He joined Lenox, the American gift and tableware company, in 1987 as division president.

  • Stearns marries Renee

    Stearns and Reneé had gotten back together when she saw that his change of mind and heart were real. He proposed.

  • CEO of Lenox

    Stearns was named president and chief executive officer of Lenox Inc., overseeing three divisions, six manufacturing facilities, 4,000 employees, and $500 million in annual sales.

  • Stearns enjoying life

    Stearns flew first class, drove a company Jaguar, earned about $800,000 a year. He and Reneé, who had left her law practice, and their five children lived in a 10-bedroom house in Pennsylvania.

  • The Call

    The call came about 10 years ago from a corporate recruiter named Rob Stevenson, who was searching for a new president for World Vision. When the offer came, Stearns agonized. He had to make a huge decision. He would be taking a huge pay cut, ending his corporate career, and uprooting his family. He realized God expected everything, and he leapt.

  • President of World Vision

    Since joining World Vision U.S., Stearns has built a strong leadership team and has inspired a culture of outcome-focused management at all levels of the organization. Donations have tripled for World Vision’s U.S. office from $358 million in 1998 to over $1 billion in 2012 and overhead has been reduced by almost one third.

  • President Obama's Advisory Council

    Stearns served in the inaugural year of President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

  • Stearns' first book

    Stearns' wrote his first best-selling book, “The Hole in Our Gospel,” published in 2009 by Thomas Nelson. Named the 2010 Christian Book of the Year by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, “The Hole in Our Gospel” challenges readers in the faith community to rise out of apathy to meet the challenges of global poverty and injustice.

  • Stearns' Second book

    Stearns' second book, titled “Unfinished” was published in April 2013 by Thomas Nelson.

  • Stearns' current responsibilties

    Stearns is currently dedicated to helping children and their communities worldwide reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty. He speaks to thousdands of people around the world to spread awareness of poverty. He resides in Bellevue, Washington with his wife Renee.