BIG SUR, CALIF. – January 26, 2017 – Esalen Institute, a nonprofit organization supporting personal and social transformation, announced today the appointment of William Donius to its Board of Trustees. A former banking executive, Donius is the author of The New York Times best-seller Thought Revolution which captures a proven methodology to unlock innovation, intuition, and creativity.

“We welcome Bill and his many skills to the Board, particularly his broad range of experience and expertise in management, creative problem solving, and non-profit foundations like the Human Rights Campaign,” said Jeff Kripal, chair of Esalen’s Board of Trustees and the J. Newton Rayzor Professor of Religion at Rice University. “These are professional skills and moral commitments that we need to model for the world today more than ever, and Bill is a beacon here.”

Donius spent 30 years in corporate America in a number of industries, including health care, television production, and banking. He is the former chairman and CEO of Pulaski Bank in St Louis. A self-described “left-brainer”, Donius drew upon the work of Nobel Prize winner Roger Sperry, MD, on the lateralization of brain functioning in order to better access right brain intuition and creativity.

His 2012 work, Thought Revolution: How to Unlock Your Inner Genius, captured his research in this area and was updated in 2014 by Simon & Schuster with new stories. More information can be found here: http://www.williamdonius.com.

"I'm honored to join the board of an organization that holds an important, unique place in the history of the human potential movement,” said Donius. “It's important this jewel along the Pacific is preserved and the role the Esalen community plays is amplified in the years ahead."

Active with a number of non-profit organizations, Donius most recently served on the boards of the Human Rights Campaign, the St. Louis Art Museum, Maryville University, and Barnes-Jewish Hospital. He attended the A.B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University and CEO program at the Kellogg School at Northwestern University.

He first visited Esalen in 1995. Donius resides in St. Louis and Rancho Mirage, California.

About Esalen
Founded in 1962, Esalen is a nonprofit center for exploring and realizing human potential through experience, education, and research. Esalen sponsors pioneering initiatives and offers personal, spiritual, and social transformation practices for workshop participants, residential staff, and interns.

Located on California’s scenic Big Sur coast, Esalen welcomes more than 17,000 students, seminarians, and visitors each year. It works toward the realization of a more just, creative, and sustainable world.