Maria Leonard Senior Book Award

The Maria Leonard Senior Book Award is offered by the ALD Board of Directors to the chapters to award the graduating member with the highest GPA in their class. ALD Headquarters will provide each chapter with one copy of the book award at no charge. Additional copies can be purchased for a nominal fee. Chapters requesting a 2026-27 book must be active and have submitted the 2025-26 Chapter Annual Report. Complete the order form now.

The 2026-27 Maria Leonard Senior Book Award is How to Live a Meaningful Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans.

Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, the visionaries behind Stanford’s renowned Life Design Lab, have helped millions use design thinking to craft lives and careers they love. In this new book, they evolve their framework to focus on one question: What makes a life feel worth living, day to day?

Drawing on the latest science and years of teaching, they show you how to:

• Reduce stress by aligning your time with what actually matters

• Bring more wonder, coherence, and flow into your everyday routines

• Turn ordinary moments into roots of joy and meaning

• Strengthen relationships and build “formative” communities that support you

Instead of cramming more into an already overwhelming routine, Burnett and Evans show you how to get more out of the life you’re already living.

Perfect for readers of Jay Shetty and Brené Brown, How to Live a Meaningful Life offers a clear, hopeful path out of the noise and overload of modern life and into deeper engagement, connection, and purpose, because everyone deserves a meaningful life.