Linda E. Ginzel

"Choosing Leadership" has been featured in media such as the Chicago Booth CareerCast podcast, Chicago's WGN Radio, and the Association for Surgical Education podcast. In 2019, Forbes included "Choosing Leadership" in its list, "Top Life and Career Design Books to Plan Your Year," stating that the book was a "good option to create your own self-coaching leadership program."

Ginzel published her first book, "Choosing Leadership: A Workbook," in 2018. Ginzel decided to write the book after students from her leadership course began to ask for copies of class material to share with their coworkers and friends. Drawing from her materials for executive development courses, the book uses a personalized approach to developing leadership and management skills. Ginzel noted in the introduction: "Instead of thinking about people who are "leaders," think of the choices these people made to lead."

In 2008, as members of the Advisory Committee on the Obama Transition Team, Ginzel and Keysar were instrumental in the creation of CPSC legislation that mandated changes in regulating children's products. The legislation included a provision, named after their son Danny, that put into effect tougher safety standards and compulsory testing for durable children's products. An extension of this CPSC legislation in 2012 included new rules for playpens that require independent testing for stability. At the announcement of this legislation, Ginzel said, "It is bittersweet for me to be standing here today," she said, "The fact that strong mandatory standards are now required by law is Danny's legacy and the legacy of other children whose lives have been lost so carelessly, so tragically." In short, Danny’s Law required that manufacturers test toys and infant products before sale. It also banned lead and phthalates in toys.

Ginzel is also the co-founder and president of Kids in Danger, a nonprofit organization which works to protect and promote the welfare and rights of consumers regarding children's product safety. In 2000, President Bill Clinton awarded Ginzel with the President's Volunteer Service Award for her work in national public safety.

Along with her academic work, Ginzel also currently serves as the co-founder and president of the non-profit organization Kids in Danger. In 1998, Ginzel and her husband, Boaz Keysar, founded Kids in Danger after the death of their son, Danny Keysar, who was strangled by a previously recalled portable crib. Through their work with the organization, Ginzel and Keysar helped push the state of Illinois in banning the sale of recalled children's products in 1998 and were also key leaders in the enactment of the Children's Product Safety Act in Illinois in 1999.

Ginzel established the Corporate Executive Education Program at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. From 1995 to 2004, she managed and grew a custom-designed program, which now ranks number one in the world for Executive Education Programs. Ginzel has also designed and taught customized educational programs for a number of Fortune 500 companies.

In 1992, Ginzel joined University of Chicago Booth School of Business as a Senior Lecturer in Behavioral Sciences. Since 1998, she has worked as a Clinical Professor of Managerial Psychology for the University. In addition, Ginzel is a charter member of the Association for Psychological Science and a member of the Academy of Management.

From 1989-1992, she was an Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. Then from 1991-1992, she was Visiting Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University.

She received a bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Colorado in 1984, earning both distinction and summa cum laude. In 1986, she earned an M.A. in Social Psychology from Princeton University, and later went on to earn a Ph.D in Social Psychology from Princeton University in 1989. During her time at Princeton, she studied with Edward E. Jones.