Liberian Leader Will Address KSG Grads

Liberia’s “Iron Lady” returns to her alma mater today, this time participating in the commencement ceremonies from the podium, as this year’s Class Day speaker at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS).

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, president of Liberia, graduated from the Mason Program for international students at HKS in 1971, completing a master’s degree in public administration. She is the first black woman president in the world and the first woman elected head of any African country.

“She has been a courageous fighter for democracy and transparency in Liberia,” said HKS Dean David T. Ellwood ’75, who issued the formal invitation to Johnson-Sirleaf. “She represents a role model for many of our students.”

Swanee G. Hunt, former ambassador to Austria and director of the Women and Public Policy Program at HKS, called Johnson-Sirleaf “a beacon for progressive leadership across Africa and the world.”

After growing up in Liberia’s capital city of Monrovia, Johnson-Sirleaf graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1964, where she was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first sorority founded by black women.

Following her time at HKS, Johnson-Sirleaf served as Assistant Minister of Finance under President William Tolbert. When Tolbert was overthrown in 1980, she went into exile in Kenya, where she worked for Citibank. After returning to her country, she was imprisoned for speaking out against the existing military regime. She has also worked for the United Nations, as well as several financial institutions including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Johnson-Sirleaf lost her first presidential bid in 1997 but went on to defeat former soccer player George Weah in the 2005 elections, pledging to bring “motherly sensitivity and emotion to the presidency,” according to the BBC.

As president, Johnson-Sirleaf confronts the difficult task of repairing a country ravaged by war.

“She faces what other people would see as insurmountable challenges in restoring a country torn apart by 14 years of the most brutal civil war,” said Hunt, who worked on Johnson-Sirleaf’s campaign and has hosted the president as a guest in her home. She noted that the war in Liberia “makes the U.S. Civil War look like a picnic.”

Robert I. Rotberg, director of the Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution at HKS, also spoke to the Iron Lady’s fearless leadership.

“She’s got the toughest job of any president of any African country,” he said.

And Ellwood said Johnson-Sirleaf has taken on “one of the greatest challenges in the world” with “great thought and courage.”

In 2006, Johnson-Sirleaf addressed a joint meeting of Congress and received 18 standing ovations, according to Hunt.

Johnson-Sirleaf was among Forbes Magazine’s 100 most powerful women in the world in both 2006 and 2007. Also last year, President Bush awarded her the Medal of Freedom award, the highest civilian honor in the United States.

She will deliver the main address at Dartmouth College’s commencement exercises on June 8.

—Staff writer Alexandra Perloff-Giles can be reached at aperloff@fas.harvard.edu.