Harvard's Institute of Politics Announces New Chair

By Lawdragon News | December 16, 2013 | Press Releases

Cambridge, MA – Harvard University’s Institute of Politics (IOP), located at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, today announced the appointment of Ken Duberstein, former Chief of Staff to President Ronald Reagan as Chairman – and five experienced political practitioners as new members – of the Institute’s Senior Advisory Committee.  The Committee is responsible for guiding and advising Institute staff toward fulfillment of the IOP’s mission of inspiring young people to careers in politics and public service. 

Duberstein succeeds former Committee Chairwoman Caroline Kennedy, with whom he worked closely and now the U.S. Ambassador to Japan, who will serve as the Committee’s Honorary Chair.  New members joining the Committee include: Manny Diaz, Mayor, Miami, FL (2001-09) and former President, U.S. Conference of Mayors; Ron Fournier, National Correspondent and Editorial Director, National Journal; Joseph P. Kennedy III, U.S. Representative (MA-4th, D); Susan Molinari, former U.S. Representative (NY-14th, R; 1990-93 and NY-13th; 1993-97); and Olympia Snowe, former U.S. Senator (1995-2013).

“I am very pleased to serve in this new role on the Senior Advisory Committee of Harvard’s Institute of Politics, an organization that I have been privileged to work with for nearly two decades,” said Ken Duberstein, Harvard Institute of Politics Senior Advisory Committee Chair, Committee member (1996-present) and Duberstein Group Chairman and CEO.  “As the polarization of today’s Washington, D.C. continues to sour youth on politics, the aim of the Institute – to inspire the next generation to serve – has never been more important. I look forward to joining with this bipartisan group of new Committee members and helping the IOP’s staff and students achieve this critical goal.”

“We continue to benefit from Ken Duberstein’s ongoing guidance on the IOP’s Senior Advisory Committee toward fulfilling our mission of encouraging youth to careers in public service,” said Harvard Institute of Politics Director Trey Grayson.  “Adding five accomplished political practitioners to the Committee – all of whom have participated in and understand our programming – will bolster our efforts to show Millennials that our democratic process can still work and make a difference.” 

Manny Diaz was first elected City of Miami Mayor in 2001, having never before held elective office. He was reelected to a second term in 2005, and was chosen to lead the United States Conference of Mayors as its president in 2008. During his two-term tenure, Diaz was recognized for completely transforming the City of Miami, and for many nationally recognized innovative programs in the areas of urban design, sustainability and green initiatives, education, infrastructure investment, affordable housing, law enforcement, poverty and homelessness, and arts and culture. Diaz served as a Resident Fellow at Harvard’s Institute of Politics in the spring of 2010, and is the author of his recently released book, Miami Transformed: Rebuilding America One Neighborhood, One City at a Time. He currently serves as a senior partner at Lydecker Diaz in Miami, Florida.

Ron Fournier is the National Correspondent and Editorial Director of National Journal. Prior to joining National Journal, he worked at the Associated Press (AP) for 20 years, most recently as Washington Bureau Chief. A Detroit native, Fournier began his career in Arkansas, first with the Hot Springs Sentinel-Record and then with the Arkansas Democrat and the AP, where he covered the state legislature and Gov. Bill Clinton.  In 2005, Fournier served as a Resident Fellow at Harvard’s Institute of Politics, where he co-wrote "Applebee's America," a New York Times best seller that examined the shared attributes of successful political, business and religious leaders. Fournier has won numerous awards, including the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi Award for coverage of the 2000 elections and is a four-time winner of the prestigious White House Correspondents' Association Merriman Smith Memorial Award.

Joseph P. Kennedy III is proud to serve the Fourth District of Massachusetts in Congress.  Having dedicated his career to public service, Congressman Kennedy brings a firm commitment to social justice and economic opportunity to the U.S. House of Representatives. Elected in November of 2012, he represents a diverse district that spans from the suburbs of Boston to the more industrial towns of Massachusetts’ South Coast. Prior to seeking office, Congressman Kennedy served the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as an Assistant District Attorney in both the Middlesex County and Cape and Island’s District Attorneys’ Offices.  A graduate of Harvard Law, he was an active member of the school’s Legal Aid Bureau – a pro-bono law firm that provided legal services to low-income families around Boston.

As Vice President of Public Policy and Government Affairs, Susan Molinari leads Google’s policy and government relations work in North and South America. Prior to joining Google, Molinari was a member of Congress, lobbyist and public affairs executive. While in Congress, Molinari was elected by her colleagues to Republican Majority Leadership, making her the highest-ranking woman in the Congress. As a member of the House Budget Committee, she was at the forefront of producing Congress’ first balanced budget in 29 years.  She got her start in politics as the Minority Leader of the New York City Council. Molinari also served as a Resident Fellow at Harvard’s Institute of Politics in the fall of 1998. 

Olympia Snowe served as a U.S. Senator from the state of Maine for eighteen years from 1995-2013.  She currently serves as a senior fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center and co-chairs its Commission on Political Reform. Before her election to the Senate, Snowe represented Maine’s 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives for 16 years. She was the first woman in U.S. history to serve in both houses of a state legislature and both houses of Congress. When first elected to Congress in 1978, at the age of 31, Snowe was the youngest Republican woman, and the first Greek-American woman, ever elected to Congress. She has won more federal elections in Maine than any other person since World War II, and is the third-longest serving woman in the history of the Congress. While in the House, she co-chaired the Congressional Caucus on Women’s issues for ten years.

Additional membership of the IOP’s Senior Advisory Committee includes: David Axelrod, Director, University of Chicago Institute of Politics and former Senior Advisor to President Obama; Richard L. Berke, Executive Editor, POLITICO; Sarah Bianchi, Senior Policy Advisor to Vice President Joe Biden and Deputy Assistant to President Obama; Heather Campion, former John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum Director and IOP Associate Director; Elaine L. Chao, former U.S. Secretary of Labor; Torie Clarke, Senior Vice President for Corporate Affairs, SAP and former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs; John C. Culver (Committee Chair Emeritus), former U.S. Senator from Iowa; William D. Delahunt (Committee Vice-Chair), former U.S. Representative from Massachusetts;Caroline Kennedy (Committee Honorary Chair), U.S. Ambassador to Japan; Philip R. Sharp, President, Resources for the Future and former U.S. Representative from Indiana; Hilda L. Solis, former U.S. Labor Secretary and U.S. Representative from California;Christine Todd Whitman, President, Whitman Strategy Group and former Governor of New Jersey and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator; and Maggie Williams, Partner, Griffin Williams Management Consulting and former Chief of Staff to First Lady Hillary Clinton and Assistant to President Clinton.