To the HKS Community,
I am thrilled to announce that former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, an alumnus of Harvard Kennedy School, will deliver this year’s graduation address to the HKS Class of 2023.
Ban Ki-moon, the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations, attended Harvard Kennedy School as an Edward S. Mason Fellow and received his Mid-Career Master of Public Administration degree from the School in 1984. He served as the Kennedy School’s Angelopoulos Global Public Leaders Fellow in 2017.
During his tenure leading the United Nations from 2007 to 2016, he addressed many of the world’s most pressing public challenges, including through efforts to combat climate change and poverty and to promote human rights and gender equity. He also orchestrated reforms of the U.N.’s peacekeeping work, strengthened humanitarian efforts, and introduced measures to increase transparency and efficiency. Prior to his leadership at the United Nations, Ban was the Republic of Korea’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, serving from 2004 to 2006. His career in the South Korean government spanned close to four decades, and he undertook a number of senior roles including ambassador to Austria and Slovenia and chief national security adviser to the president.
I am delighted that Ban Ki-moon will be this year’s graduation speaker. Our students aspire to careers as public leaders and policymakers, and they can learn a great deal from his many distinguished roles and long career as a dedicated public servant.
You can read more in our official announcement here.
Best wishes,
Doug
