Campus Connection

CNN’s David Gergen to speak at UW-La Crosse

A former White House advisor to presidents from both parties and current CNN senior political analyst is coming to UW-La Crosse.

David Gergen, who advised Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton and is a current senior political analyst for CNN, will speak as part of the ongoing "Civility in a Partisan Era” series from 6-7:15 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27, in The Bluffs, Student Union, 521 East Ave. N. Admission is free and open to the public.

Gergen is a professor of public service and founding director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School, positions he has held for over a decade. Gergen wrote about his White House experiences in his New York Times best seller, “Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership, Nixon to Clinton” in 2001. In the 1980s, he began a career in journalism. Starting with The MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour in 1984, Gergen has been a regular commentator on public affairs for more than 30 years. Twice he has been a member of election coverage teams that won Peabody awards, and he has contributed to two Emmy award-winning political analysis teams.

In the late 1980s, Gergen was chief editor of U.S. News & World Report, working with publisher Mort Zuckerman to achieve record gains in circulation and advertising. Over the years, he has been active on many non-profit boards. His work as founding the Center for Public Leadership at the Kennedy School enabled him to work closely with a rising generation of younger leaders, especially social entrepreneurs, military veterans and Young Global Leaders chosen by the World Economic Forum.

A native of North Carolina, Gergen is a member of the D.C. Bar, a veteran of the U.S. Navy, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the U.S. executive committee for the Trilateral Commission. He is an honors graduate of Yale and the Harvard Law School. He has been awarded 27 honorary degrees.

Gergen has been married since 1967 to Anne Elizabeth Gergen of England, a family therapist. They have two children and five grandchildren.

Gergen’s presentation at UW-La Crosse is fully funded by the Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership. It is part of the UWL Political Science and Public Administration Department’s “Civility in a Partisan Era” Series, which has included speakers such as George Will and John McCormack.

If you go—

Who: Political analyst David Gergen

What: Lecture as part of ”Civility in a Partisan Era” series

When: 6-7:15 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27

Where: The Bluffs, UW-La Crosse Student Union, 521 East Ave. N.

Admission: Free. Funded by the Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership.