Bill De Blasio is joining the faculty at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics (IOP) as a teaching fellow in the fall of 2022, a little over a month after giving up on his congressional ambitions, the institution announced Wednesday.
De Blasio joins Harvard as part of the university’s Fall 2021 Visiting Fellows Program, which “brings distinguished veterans of public life for a short yet comprehensive stay at the Institute of Politics,” according to its website.
“I am happy to join the IOP to help inspire our nation’s next generation of leaders to find ways to serve in politics and public service, and to build a government that serves working people,” De Blasio said in a press release. (RELATED: New York Trying To Resurrect Racist Laws To Restrict Gun Ownership)
I am VERY optimistic about the generation of leaders and activists coming up. It will be a privilege to offer lessons I’ve learned through decades of public service. My key message to them: we CAN make bold progressive change. I know because I’ve lived it. https://t.co/AtbKY9CaZd
— Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) August 24, 2022
The Harvard Institute of Politics’ interim director Setti D. Warren said he was excited to have De Blasio on faculty to “look for pathways forward on the challenges facing our democracy.”
“Mayor de Blasio’s decades of experience in local government, federal agencies, national campaigns, and running the largest city in the country will provide invaluable insight to our students and the Harvard community.”
The former mayor will teach classes on “leadership and public service” at the university’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health in addition to participating in “a variety of discussions, events, and programming” at the IOC and the Harvard Kennedy School, the AP reported.
De Blasio was mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021 before retired police captain Eric Adams was elected in November 2021. De Blasio entered the race to represent New York’s 10th congressional district, but dropped out in July. The former mayor announced in January he would not be running for governor of New York State after a poll showed current Democratic New York Governor Kathy Hochul leading potential Democratic challengers.
