New K-School Spokesman Geared for 50th Birthday

Gearing up for its approaching 50th anniversary celebration, the Kennedy School of Government has named one of its own 1986 graduates as its director of press relations.

Steven R. Singer, former press secretary for two U.S. Representatives and for a Connecticut public interest organization, will handle press inquiries into the K-School until after the fall celebration. Earlier this month Singer graduated from the K-School's Mid-Career Master in Public Administration program.

"He's here mainly to provide additional horsepower for the 50th and 350th activities," said Kennedy School Associate Dean for Administration Elizabeth C. Reveal. "We're very pleased to have him because of his experience in this sort of work," she said.

Reveal denied that Singer's appointment was related to this spring's controversy over whether U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese III should receive a K-School 50th anniversary medal for distinguished public service.

Former Director of Public Relations Naomi Chase transferred to another department within the Kennedy School after the controversy, during which students and faculty protested that Meese was unqualified for a public service award. Kennedy School Dean Graham T. Allison '62 eventually apologized for his decision to award the medal to Meese and said that part of the misunderstanding surrounding the medal was a press secretary "learning her job by fire."

"A veteran press secretary and graduate of the Kennedy School, Steve will be a valuable resource to all reporters seeking information about the school," Allison said of Singer in a news release Wednesday.

Singer may be offered the option of staying at the school after the 50th anniversary celebration, which will consist mainly of symposia, Reveal said.

Singer said he expected a "flood of press interest" in the K-School this summer and fall.

"Just today I talked to U.S. News and World Report and Vanity Fair. There are a lot of extra needs because of the anniversary," he said.