A former adviser to four American presidents who currently serves as co-director of the Center for Leadership at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, Gergen will share his wisdom and advice with Elon graduating seniors and their families on May 21, 2016.
David Gergen is a professor of public service and serves as co-director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School, and he provides frequent political commentary as a senior political analyst for CNN.
Gergen was active in the planning and establishment of the Elon University School of Law, which opened in downtown Greensboro in 2006. He played a leading role in the creation of the school’s National Advisory Board and continues to serve as the board’s founding chair. The law school annually awards the David Gergen Award for Leadership and Professionalism to an outstanding member of its graduating class.
Throughout his career, Gergen has been a trusted White House confidante to presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton. His New York Times best-selling book, “Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership, Nixon to Clinton,” captures those experiences. Gergen’s journalism career started in 1984 with the McNeil-Lehrer NewsHour. He has twice been a member of election coverage teams that won Peabody awards and two others that won Emmys. Earlier he was chief editor of U.S. News & World Report when it won record gains in readership and advertising.
Over the years, Gergen has been active on many nonprofit boards. In addition to his role at Elon Law, among his current boards are Teach for America, City Year, Schwab Foundation, the Aspen Institute, Mission Continues, and the advisory board for the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
A native of Durham, North Carolina, Gergen is a member of the D.C. Bar, a veteran of the U.S. Navy, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the U.S. executive committee for the Trilateral Commission. Gergen is an honors graduate of Yale University and the Harvard Law School. He has been awarded 26 honorary degrees, including an honorary doctorate from Elon University in May 2009.
For more information about Commencement week activities, visit www.elon.edu/commencement, which will be updated throughout the spring as events and programs are finalized.