Outgoing Gov. Kate Brown greets people as she arrives for the inauguration of Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek in Salem, Jan. 9, 2023.
Christina Wentz-Graf / OPB
Kate Brown has yet to announce career plans after leaving the Oregon governor’s mansion. But for a week or so this spring, Brown is going to Cambridge.
The former governor was named a “Visiting Scholar” at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Politics Institute. That means Brown will be heading to college campuses this semester to teach students what she has learned over decades in national politics — as a sometimes controversial and unpopular executive.
When announcing the appointment, noticed earlier today Through Oregon 360 Media, the Kennedy School touted Brown’s history of signing major legislation, such as a “motor vehicle voter” law that registers voters when they obtain or renew their driver’s licenses, and a $5.3 billion infrastructure package in 2017.
“After taking action during the COVID-19 pandemic that resulted in the lowest case rate in the country, Governor Brown focused his recovery efforts on addressing the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on communities of color,” Brown’s biography said. Harvard website. It went on to tout her efforts to diversify Oregon’s workforce and judge makeup, as well as her decision to clemency tens of thousands and clear the state of death row.
As a fellow, Brown will receive what Harvard calls a “small stipend” and her tenure will be very short. Visiting scholars typically stay in Cambridge for just one week, attend at least three events a day and often lead “at least one 90-minute study group”, the university said.
Brown won’t be the only recently unemployed politician in the Portland area to embrace the Harvard experience. Former U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, who lost her re-election bid in southwestern Washington last year, has been invited to receive a semester-long fellowship at the Institute of Political Science.
Herrera Beutler lost a primary challenge after she joined nine other House Republicans in voting to impeach former President Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
Herrera Beutler will teach Harvard students “about putting the nation above party and governing in a divided America,” the university said.
