The Chidsey Center for Leadership Development is named in honor of John and Lisa Chidsey '83.  John is a college trustee and CEO of Burger King Corporation. He and Lisa contributed a major gift to Davidson that launched a campus-wide study of student leadership development. With funding from the Chidseys and support from the Duke Endowment, the Center opened in 2007.

The Chidsey Center for Leadership Development is Davidson College's clearinghouse for leadership resources and activities. Leadership can be a vague concept, one fraught with many interpretations. Founded on the relational model of leadership, we define leadership as the ability to empower and inspire others to work together for the common good. The capacity to lead in this way is not simply inborn, but rather, can be learned by combining an understanding of leadership theory with real-life experience.

Because we believe that all students have both the potential and the responsibility to exercise leadership for the common good, we provide programming that is relevant to formal leaders and committed participants. Our goal is to enable students to learn about leadership while connecting them to leadership opportunities on campus and in the community.