Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree

On Nov. 16, the Graduate Education Committee recommended the awarding of an honorary doctorate to David Gergen — commentator, editor, teacher, public servant, best-selling author and adviser to U.S. Presidents. Gergen was nominated by the College of Communication, Information, and Media for his significant role in American journalism. The nomination was supported by Provost Beverley Pitts.

For 30 years, Gergen has been an active participant in American national life. He served as director of communications for President Ronald Reagan and held positions in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. In 1993, he agreed to serve as counselor to President Bill Clinton on both foreign policy and domestic affairs, and then as special international advisor to the president and to Secretary of State Warren Christopher. He returned to private life in January, 1995.

Currently Gergen serves as editor-at-large of U.S. News & World Report and as a television commentator. He is also a professor of public service at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and the director of its Center for Public Leadership. For two seasons he served as moderator of "World @ Large," a 13-part PBS discussion series In the fall of 2000, he published the best-selling book "Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership, Nixon to Clinton."

From 1984 to 1993, Gergen worked primarily as a journalist. For almost three years, he was editor of U.S. News. Working with the owner and editor-in-chief Mortimer Zuckerman and staff, he helped to guide the magazine to record gains in circulation and advertising. For five years, he teamed up with Mark Shields for political commentary every Friday night on the "MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour." A popular political team, they won numerous accolades for their political coverage.

A native of Durham, N.C., Gergen is an honors graduate of Yale University and the Harvard Law School. He is a member of the District of Columbia bar and an active member of many nonprofit boards, including the American Assembly, World Resources Institute, Kenan Institute for Ethics, Partnership for Public Service and National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. He is also chairman of the National Selection Committee for Innovations in American Government. 

In fall 2003 Gergen gave an Emens Professorship lecture at Ball State. In his message to students, he underscored statesmanship, civic responsibility and civility — values that are sometimes difficult to discern in contemporary public discourse. In honoring David Gergen with an honorary degree, the university would recognize not only the outstanding values he models in leadership positions but also his many other contributions to American national life.