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Maggie Williams named IOP director

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Maggie Williams, who has served in a variety of high-profile governmental, political, and managerial leadership positions for more than 30 years in public service, has been named director of the Institute of Politics (IOP) at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), it was announced today. Williams will begin at the IOP this summer.

“The IOP was created to inspire students to enter public service and politics — pursuits to which Maggie Williams has devoted most of her professional life,” said David T. Ellwood, dean of HKS. “She has used her academic training and her decades of political experience to help public and private leaders manage difficult challenges and effect change. We are excited to welcome her to Harvard Kennedy School.”

“Maggie’s political wisdom and her long record of mentoring and supporting young leaders — not only in politics but in many career fields — and the example she sets in fostering and sustaining relationships across the political spectrum make her the right leader for the IOP today,” said Ken Duberstein, chair of the IOP Senior Advisory Committee and former chief-of-staff to President Ronald Reagan.  “I look forward to working with her to help inspire the next generation of young Americans to answer the call to public service.”

Duberstein, along with Ellwood, HKS Academic Dean and Professor of Public Policy Iris Bohnet, and Elaine L. Chao, former U.S. Secretary of Labor under President George W. Bush and IOP Senior Advisory Committee member, comprised the IOP director selection committee.

Williams served in the administration of President William J. Clinton as assistant to the president and chief-of-staff to First Lady Hillary R. Clinton, and also managed then-Sen. Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential primary campaign in its final months.