Bill Hendrickson, a native of Plainview, Minnesota, received a bachelor's degree from Saint Mary's in 1939. He later earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Hendrickson worked as a chemist and senior executive of American Home Products Corporation and became chairman of St. Jude Medical Inc., and its first chairman emeritus.

Bill often commented that throughout his career, he was fortunate to work with and observe leaders who were ethical and who recognized the importance of developing leaders who posses high moral standards. The erosion of ethical leadership of some leaders in positions of authority led to his desire to help reverse this trend by eventually establishing the Hendrickson Institute for Ethical Leadership.

In 1988, Bill and his wife Jean Hendrickson invited Saint Mary's to partner with them to identify, encourage, nurture, and develop creative, ethical and globally oriented leaders. The Hendrickson's funded the Tomorrow's Leaders University Scholarship Program at Saint Mary's. The scholarship provides assistance to students who commit to a lifestyle characterized by good character. Tomorrow's Leaders Scholars have provided society with well-rounded ethical leadership and as graduates of Saint Mary's they are committed to playing a constructive role in creating an ethical society.

In 1994, the Hendricksons expanded their scholarship program and established the Hendrickson Institute for Ethical Leadership at Saint Mary's University in Winona, Minnesota. Over the years, the Institute has provided a variety of programming and training on ethical leadership for both for-profit and non-profit organizations. In 2003, Bill and Jean Hendrickson furthered their commitment. Recognizing the need to nurture the development of young people of good character, they established the Tomorrow's Leaders' High School Scholarship Program (TLHSSP). TLHSSP provides incentive in the form of scholarships for high school students of good character to complete leadership and service projects within their schools and communities. The THLSSP has established a network of mid-west high schools that share a belief in nurturing and developing young ethical leaders in society.

In 2005, The Hendrickson Institute began its collaboration with Caux Round Table, a global network of senior business leaders from Europe, Japan and North America. The Institute now offers the Corporate Directors Academy (CDA) in the Twin Cities. The CDA provides aspiring directors training which is built upon the premise that "good directors lead good companies and great directors lead great companies."

In 2006, The Hendrickson Institute entered into a partnership with Magellan Executive Resources in order to provide a Servant Leadership Training Program based on the life-enriching philosophy of Robert Greenleaf. Servant Leadership is based on the principle of serving first, with a clear set of principles, values, and relationships. In 2007, Lindsay McCabe became the Executive Director for the Hendrickson Institute after the untimely death of its long-time Executive Director Tim Burchill. The Institute was moved from Winona to Minneapolis with the opportunity to expand programming to reach the Twin Cities community.

In September, Saint Mary's University and the Hendrickson Institute received an anonymous donation of $1.695 million to establish an annual speaker series and the Ethical Leadership Award to an individual who meets the criteria of an ethical global leader.