Former British Foreign Secretary To Deliver HKS Graduation Speech

Former British Foreign Secretary David Miliband will deliver the graduation address at the Kennedy School of Government on May 27, the school announced on Tuesday. The speech will be given at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Memorial Park.

Miliband was a Fisher Family Fellow at the Future of Diplomacy Project at the Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs from 2011 to 2012 and currently serves as president and CEO of the humanitarian aid NGO International Rescue Committee.

He was also a Member of Parliament for South Shields from 2001 until 2013, and served on former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s cabinet as the inaugural Minister of State for Communities and Local Government and then later as his Secretary of State for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs. He then served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs under Gordon Brown until 2010.

Recent speakers at the Kennedy School’s graduation exercises include United Nations ambassador Samantha J. Power, University professor Paul E. Farmer, and former Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen G. Sebelius.

Former Massachusetts Governor Deval L. Patrick ’78 will deliver this year’s University Commencement speech. Harvard Law School announced last week that former member of Congress Gabrielle Giffords and her spouse Mark Kelly will speak jointly at the school’s Class Day.

—Staff writer Luca F. Schroeder can be reached at luca.schroeder@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @lucaschroeder.