CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Today, Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) announced that Zanny Minton Beddoes, editor-in-chief of The Economist and an HKS alumna, will give the 2026 graduation address at Harvard Kennedy School on May 27.
Minton Beddoes – who earned her master's in public administration degree from HKS in 1992 – has led The Economist since 2015, when she became the first woman to hold the editor-in-chief position in the publication's more than 180-year history. Under her leadership, The Economist has strengthened its reputation as one of the world's most authoritative voices on global economics, politics, and policy. She joined the magazine in 1994 as its emerging markets correspondent and rose through a succession of senior editing roles, including economics editor and business affairs editor, before assuming the top post. Prior to The Economist, she served as an economist at the International Monetary Fund and as an adviser to the minister of finance in Poland.
“As the leader of one of the world’s most consequential publications, Zanny Minton Beddoes is an important and clear-eyed voice on global affairs,” said Jeremy Weinstein, Dean of Harvard Kennedy School and Don K. Price Professor of Public Policy. “Her ability to make sense of an increasingly complex and rapidly shifting world is exactly what our graduates need as they leave the Kennedy School and step into public life. As an alumna of this school, she understands firsthand what it means to build a career in service of the public good, and she has done so at the highest levels. We are thrilled to welcome her home and have her address the next generation of public leaders as they graduate from HKS.”
"Thirty-five years ago, my time at the Kennedy School gave me the skills and perspective to make sense of a world that was being dramatically reshaped,” said Zanny Minton Beddoes, editor-in chief of The Economist and HKS alumna. “At that point the drivers of global change were the collapse of communism, the flourishing of nascent democracies and the rise of what later became known as globalisation. A generation on, the world is being transformed even more rapidly and fundamentally as the geopolitical order is upended, economic orthodoxies are questioned, and artificial intelligence transforms our societies. It is a head-spinning time, with much promise but also considerable risks. Public leadership is more important than ever. I am honored to return to HKS, a place that changed my life, to welcome the class of 2026 into the next chapter of their lives and careers."
Founded in 1843, The Economist is one of the oldest and most storied publications in the world. Widely regarded as essential reading for world leaders and policymakers, The Economist is consistently ranked among the most trusted and influential sources of news and analysis on economics, politics, and global affairs. Under Minton Beddoes’ leadership, the magazine has grown to 1.25 million subscribers worldwide.
Minton Beddoes is a two-time winner of the Gerald Loeb Award, widely considered one of the most prestigious prizes in business journalism, receiving the honor for economic journalism commentary in 2012 and for breaking news coverage in 2017. Forbes has named her among the Most Powerful Women in the World. She is a frequent media commentator.
Harvard Kennedy School graduation speakers in recent years have included CNN chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour; former U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns; former United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon MC/MPA 1984; Moldovan President Maia Sandu MC/MPA 2010; U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg; World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; and former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos MC/MPA 1981.
The graduation address, part of the Kennedy School’s Commencement Week activities, will be held on Wednesday, May 27. The events will be livestreamed on the HKS website at www.hks.harvard.edu/commencement.