Former Republican Senate Official Named Harvard Institute of Politics Second-in-Command

The Harvard Kennedy School appointed former Republican Secretary for the Majority Laura C. Dove as second-in-command of the Institute of Politics, the IOP announced in a press release Monday.

Dove will serve as the IOP’s first senior director of administration for the next six months under Interim Director Setti D. Warren “to oversee all aspects of IOP programming and operations” while the search for a new director continues. The search for the next IOP director — which began in August after the unexpected departure of Mark D. Gearan ’78 — is expected to conclude this semester.

Warren has served as interim director since Gearan’s departure and said in a November interview that he is vying for the permanent director role. Though Warren’s former position as executive director of the IOP remains unfilled, Dove will take on many of his previous responsibilities in her newly-created role.

“She brings extraordinary experience from Capitol Hill, a wealth of knowledge about Republican politics and policymaking, and a deep commitment to our students to inspire them to live in public service,” Warren said in a press release.

Dove was elected by the U.S. Senate Republican Conference as secretary for the minority in 2013 and secretary for the majority in 2015. Dove retired from her role as secretary in 2020, in a move announced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

“She is a keen strategist who always thinks several steps ahead. She has not just been one of my own closest advisers, but a key resource to our entire majority and a central part of its many accomplishments,” McConnell said of Dove in a February 2020 press release. “Senators and staff on both sides of the aisle will miss Laura a lot and I will be foremost among them.”

Dove began her Senate career in the 1980s as a page, then served as an assistant in the Senate Republican Cloakroom.

After retiring from the Senate, Dove served as federal affairs director of Ford Motor Company for two years, then served on the board of directors of Perpetua Resources, a gold mine site redevelopment company.

Dove served as a Pritzker Fellow at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics in the fall of 2022, where she led a seminar on bipartisanship and the importance of the Senate.

“Laura’s leadership will help the IOP continue to be a thought leader on the critical issues facing young Americans and our country and to be one of the country’s premier arenas for political speech, discussion, and debate across the political aisle,” Warren said.

Correction: February 13, 2023

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Laura C. Dove would serve as the IOP’s senior director of administration for six weeks. In fact, Dove will serve in the role for six months.

—Staff writer Asher J. Montgomery can be reached at asher.montgomery@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @asherjmont.