Former National Security Adviser Susan Rice and Eight Others to Join Harvard’s Institute of Politics as Fall 2023 Fellows

Former National Security Adviser Susan E. Rice and eight other politicians and political journalists will serve as fellows at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics this fall, the IOP announced in a press release Wednesday.

The seven resident fellows include Cheri L. Beasley, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina; Rodney L. Davis, a former Republican U.S. representative; Andrea R. Flores ’10, former director of Border Management on the National Security Council; Betsy Fischer Martin, former executive producer of NBC’s “Meet the Press”; Jonathan L. Martin, politics bureau chief and senior political columnist for Politico; Daniel Mulhall, former Irish ambassador to the United States; and Jeffrey A. Rosen, former acting attorney general.

The fall cohort will also feature two visiting fellows: Rice and former Republican U.S. Senator Roy D. Blunt.

IOP Director Setti D. Warren said in the release that the fall 2023 fellows “embody the IOP’s mission of public service.”

“I am confident their diverse expertise and guidance will inspire this year’s students to pursue careers in public service and prepare the next generation for political leadership,” Warren said.

The resident fellows will lead study groups over the next eight weeks on topics including “diplomacy and statecraft, governing in a divided America, national political parties, judiciary affairs, and policy development,” according to the release.

The study groups are slated to begin on Sept. 25 and will run until mid-November.

The visiting fellows will participate in discussions, events and programming during a shorter stay at the IOP.

Sebastian R. Feune ’25 and Elizabeth M. Benecchi ’25, the co-chairs of the Fellows and Study Groups program at the IOP, said in the release that they believe the cohort will bring interesting and thought-provoking discussions to the IOP, especially in today’s political climate.

“We are witnessing the entanglement of politics and elections with the American legal system, reshaping the contours of accountability and governance,” they wrote. “During this period, we are also tasked with looking ahead as the presidential election nears and global conflict persists.”

“With no shortage of subjects for discussion, our incoming Fellows Cohort is poised to infuse vital and substantive discourse that will not only captivate the minds of those in the IOP but reverberate across the broader Harvard community,” they added.

Rosen, who served as acting attorney general in the final days of Donald Trump’s presidency, said in the release that he believes that students are essential to the “future function and efficacy of our government.”

“I’m looking forward to sharing experiences and perspectives from many years in Washington and learning in tandem about how today's students and faculty are thinking about the challenges of governance and administration,” Rosen said.

Flores wrote that she is excited to return to Harvard — where she was “introduced to the possibilities of public service as an undergraduate and learned how to lead as a Mexican American woman.”

“As our nation continues a fierce debate over who should have access to American citizenship, I’m excited to engage with students and other members of the Harvard community on the future of U.S. immigration policy and how this country can realize its promise of a multiracial democracy.”

—Staff writer Asher J. Montgomery can be reached at asher.montgomery@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @asherjmont or on Threads @asher_montgomery.