HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL scholars have produced paradigm-shifting ideas ever since the School’s founding in 1936, and especially through its decades of growth from the 1960s onward as the modern John F. Kennedy School of Government. Some of these concepts have changed the nature of public service and reshaped whole fields of policymaking. And a few have changed the way people everywhere think about and confront the toughest challenges facing their societies—leading directly to new policies and improved lives.
Through ripple effects that began on campus in Cambridge, the ideas born at the Kennedy School have gone on to help tackle widespread loneliness, save lives around the world, understand what makes social movements succeed, bring energy back to depressed communities, and conceptualize when war between two countries becomes more likely.
Here’s a taste of a few of these big ideas.
“We must think and act not only for the moment but for our time.”
The Ripple Effect Across Decades
The Kennedy School’s impact has reverberated throughout history—showing up in the actions of faculty, alumni, and students and felt by the communities they serve.