Mark Kennedy | |
|---|---|
 Congressional portrait, 2001 | |
| 23rd President of theUniversity of Colorado System | |
| In office July 1, 2019 – July 1, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Bruce D. Benson |
| Succeeded by | Todd Saliman |
| 12thPresident of the University of North Dakota | |
| In office July 1, 2016 – June 15, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Ed Schafer (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Joshua Wynne (acting) |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMinnesota | |
| In office January 3, 2001 – January 3, 2007 | |
| Preceded by | David Minge |
| Succeeded by | Michele Bachmann |
| Constituency | 2nd district (2001–2003) 6th district (2003–2007) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Mark Raymond Kennedy (1957-04-11)April 11, 1957 (age 68) Benson, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouse | Debbie Kennedy |
| Education | St. John's University (BS) University of Michigan (MBA) |
Mark Raymond Kennedy (born April 11, 1957) is an American businessman, politician, and university administrator. Following a career as a business executive, he served as aRepublican member of theUnited States House of Representatives fromMinnesota from 2001 to 2007. Kennedy did not seek reelection in 2006, instead running in the2006 election forU.S. Senate, which he lost toDemocratic–Farmer–Labor nomineeAmy Klobuchar.
Afterward, he joinedGeorge Washington University and became director ofThe Graduate School of Political Management in 2012. He later became12th president of theUniversity of North Dakota, serving from 2016 to 2019 before becoming the 23rd president of theUniversity of Colorado (CU) system, in office from 2019 to 2021.[1][2]
In 2023, Kennedy began serving as Director of theWilson Center's Wahba Institute for Strategic Competition, but has since left that position.[3]
Kennedy graduated fromPequot Lakes High School in 1975 andSt. John's University in 1979. He began his career as acertified public accountant and went on to receive his M.B.A. with distinction from theUniversity of Michigan'sRoss School of Business in 1983.[4]
Kennedy's business career included working forthe Pillsbury Company, assisting with its acquisition ofHäagen-Dazs and arranging for financing to support its international expansion. As a seniorexecutive atFederated Department Stores, he helped the company position itself for growth to become, asMacy's, the world's leadingdepartment store. He was profiled in May 1992'sInstitutional Investor Magazine, which featured him as one of "America's top CFOs". AtShopKo Stores, he was responsible for merchandising, marketing and store management.[4]
In2000 Kennedy won theRepublican nomination for the2nd district and faced four-termDemocratic incumbentDavid Minge. He had never run for political office before. In the second closest congressional race of that cycle, Kennedy defeated Minge by 155 votes.[5]
Leading up to the 2002 elections, although Minnesota did not gain or lose any districts, Kennedy's 2nd district—an enormous 28-county district stretching from the southwestern corner of the state to the fringes of theTwin Cities—was dismantled. Its territory was split up among four neighboring districts. Kennedy's home outsideWatertown was just inside the reconfigured6th district, in the Twin Cities' northern suburbs.[6]
In2002 Kennedy initially expected to face the 6th district's three-term Democratic incumbent,Bill Luther. But the new 6th was somewhat more Republican than its predecessor, and Luther opted to move to the reconfigured2nd district, where he eventually lost toJohn Kline. Kennedy instead faced Janet Robert, a lawyer and longtime Democratic activist. In one of the most expensive congressional races in Minnesota history, Kennedy was elected with 57% of the vote.[7]
In2004, Kennedy faced child safety advocatePatty Wetterling. He received 54% percent of the vote to Wetterling's 46%.[8]
Kennedy did not seek reelection to the House in2006. Instead he ran againstDFL nominee and Hennepin County AttorneyAmy Klobuchar for theU.S. Senate seat being vacated byDFL incumbentMark Dayton. Also in the race were theIndependence Party nominee, Robert Fitzgerald; theGreen Party nominee, Michael Cavlan; and the Constitution Party nominee, Ben Powers.
Klobuchar won the election, receiving 58% of the vote to Kennedy's 38%.[9]
Kennedy's support of the proposed surge in theIraq War during the2006 Senate election was described as "bold and smart" on theBrit Hume show onFox News (Fox News, Brit Hume Show, 12-27-06).Anderson Cooper, an anchor onCNN, said that "Kennedy doesn't ignore the elephant in the room. To the contrary, he looks it straight in the eye" (CNN, Anderson Cooper 360°, 10-25-06).
A proponent offree trade, Kennedy voted for giving the presidentfast-track authority and for theCentral America Free Trade Agreement.[10]
Kennedy supported theBush tax cuts and voted forthe Medicare Prescription Drug Plan[11] and theDeficit Reduction Act of 2005,[12] while co-sponsoring three other bipartisan bills that year that would expand stem cell research.[13] His also sponsored a line-item veto,[14] a lifetime ban on all members of Congress becoming lobbyists,[15] full deductibility of medical expenses,[16] no parole for sex offenders,[17] and Medicare Plan Enrollment Fraud Protection.[18]
Kennedy's record of bipartisanship included partnering with 20 Democrats to lead legislation and having more than half the Democrats in the House co-sponsor bills he introduced. Such bills included:
Kennedy called himself "100% pro-life". He voted in favor of thePartial-Birth Abortion Ban Act and theUnborn Victims of Violence Act. He voted to sustain Bush's veto of theStem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005[10] while co-sponsoring three other bipartisan bills that year that would expand stem cell research.[27]
In 2007 Kennedy was appointed to the President's Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiation (ACTPN).[28] Part of theOffice of the United States Trade Representative, ACTPN considers trade policy issues in the context of overall national interest.
In 2008 Kennedy, along with former RepresentativesTim Penny andBill Frenzel of Minnesota, founded theEconomic Club of Minnesota (ECOM),[29] a nonpartisan platform for national and international leaders in business, government, and public policy to present their ideas on how Minnesota can better compete in an increasingly globalized economy. The Economic Club sponsors the Bill Frenzel Champion of Free Trade Award.[30]
Also, in 2008 he established the Frontiers of Freedom Lecture Series at theEugene J. McCarthy Center for Public Policy at his alma mater,St. John's University.[31]
Kennedy became a member of theEconomic Club of Washington in 2013.
In 2015 Kennedy was elected to theCouncil on Foreign Relations.[32]
In 2021 Kennedy was appointed as a United States Air and Space Forces Civic Leader supporting the Secretary of the Air Force.
From 2007 to 2010 Kennedy served as the global retail business development lead atAccenture, a global management consulting and technology services firm. In 2010 he formed Chartwell Strategic Advisors LLC. Kennedy's activities through Chartwell include speaking on applying 360° Vision to bridge differences between business and society; the political left and right; the United States and the world.[4]
From 2011 to 2013 Kennedy served as an executive in residence at Johns Hopkins University'sCarey Business School in Baltimore, Maryland, teaching MBA courses on corporate statesmanship, global economic systems, as well as global immersion courses in Brazil and Turkey.[4]
In January 2012 Kennedy accepted the position of director and professor at theGeorge Washington University Graduate School of Political Management.[33] During his tenure the school launched two new master's programs—one in Spanish with a Latin American focus and one focused on advocacy in the global environment[34]—and was designated as the PR Education Program of the Year by PR Week.[35]
Between 2012 and 2017, Kennedy has also been an adjunct faculty member atKoç University in Istanbul, Turkey.[4]
Kennedy introduced the concept of "Shapeholders" to the field of business strategy—the political, regulatory, media, and activist actors that shape a firm's opportunities and risks. Kennedy teaches how to effectively engage shapeholders both at home and abroad to profitably advance business strategies while benefiting society.[36]
On March 15, 2016, theNorth Dakota State Board of Higher Education announced that Kennedy had been selected as thetwelfth President of theUniversity of North Dakota.[37] Kennedy, who had filed his application on January 2, 2016, was in February the third of six finalists to visit the school.[38] He succeeded presidentRobert Kelley, who retired in January 2016, andEd Schafer, who served as interim President until Kennedy took office on July 1.[39] He was inaugurated on October 10, 2016.[40]
Notable achievements by UND during Kennedy's tenure include being ranked by U.S. News as one of the 25 Most Innovative Schools[41] and being awarded the 2017 Big Sky Conference Presidents' Cup for outstanding student-athlete academic achievement while winning four conference championships in one year.[42]
On May 9, 2017, Kennedy's bookShapeholders: Business Success in the Age of Activism was published byColumbia Business School.[36]
On April 9, 2019, Kennedy was named the sole finalist for the position of President at theUniversity of Colorado. On April 10, he stated in an email that he would accept the position.[43]
In April 2019, theUniversity of Colorado Board of Regents named Kennedy the sole finalist for the university presidency in a 9–0 vote.[44] After several contentious public hearings, the Board of Regents elected him to the position in a partisan 5–4 vote.[45] Members of the CU community expressed concerns that Kennedy had insufficient experience to lead CU, and many raised specific concerns about Kennedy's ability to lead the university on issues related todiversity, equity, and inclusion.[46] A Denver Post editorial observed, "We are displeased and a little sickened by the orchestrated opposition to Kennedy based not on his qualifications but on his political affiliation. The CU Faculty Council has set out to demonize Kennedy in a disturbing manner that bodes poorly for attracting top candidates for this role in the future. What sane individual with a résumé worthy of any world-class institution would willfully subject himself or herself to the kind of ridicule and public haranguing that Kennedy has faced in recent weeks?"[47] Kennedy started as an employee on June 15 for a transition period with outgoing presidentBruce Benson and became president on July 1.[48]
Kennedy’s presidency was marked by several historic milestones for the university in advancing diversity and inclusion, including hiring its first systemwide chief diversity officer,[49] the development of its first Indigenous lands recognition statement,[50] providing support for CU Denver fulfilling its role as newly named Hispanic Servicing Institution,[51] and expanding scholarships for less represented communities, including authorizing match funding for the Charles J. Blackwood, MD, Endowed Memorial Scholarship honoring the School of Medicine's first black graduate.[52] Kennedy drew criticism, however, for enacting changes to university policies that some believed might limit staff and faculty members' ability to publicly support vulnerable communities and to advocate for social change.[53] CU Boulder’s Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies issued a public rebuke after Kennedy used the phrase "Trail of Tears" colloquially to describe the challenges CU would face if it did not expand online education opportunities. The written rebuke noted that Kennedy's use of this term, demonstrated “ignorance of these atrocities at best, and willful verbal harm at worst.”[54] Kennedy issued a formal apology within an hour of concern being raised.[55] In 2021, two actions occurred in Boulder, ranked as America's most liberal small town, that were not replicated at the other three communities hosting CU Campuses.[56] CU Boulder's Faculty Assembly cited the above examples and others in formally censuring Kennedy for “failure of leadership with respect to diversity, equity, and inclusion,” with 35 Assembly members supporting and 20 members opposing the motion (one abstaining). The other three campuses did not join the action.[57] Kennedy received another rebuke from NAACP Boulder County, which in May 2021 conducted a vote of no confidence and urged the Regents to remove Kennedy from his position.[58] Again, neither the counties that represented CU’s other three campuses, nor the statewide organization, joined the action.
Eight months into Kennedy’s presidency saw the emergence of theCOVID-19 pandemic. Despite the challenges associated with navigating a global pandemic,36 Kennedy, working with the regents, advanced several key initiatives including shepherding a coordinated approach to expanding the university’s online offerings[59] and strengthening its technological infrastructure.[60] The university’s other notable achievements during this time include keeping net tuition flat;39 garnering $1.4 billion in sponsored research funding and gifts in 2020;40 increasing graduation and retention rates; creating the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Innovation Fund;41 completing a strategic plan for the university;[61] and achieving the second highest fundraising year in the university’s history – $455 million in 2020.[62]
In January 2021, the University of Colorado Board of Regents switched partisan control for the first time in 40 years, with Democrats in the majority.[63] On May 10, 2021, Kennedy announced that given changes in the board’s makeup and its focus, he was making plans to leave his position.[64][65] On June 1, 2021, the Board of Regents announced that administrator Todd Saliman would serve as interim president of the university effective July 1, 2021.[66] On June 17, 2021, the Board of Regents passed a resolution of appreciation for Kennedy, commending him for his service to the university and conferring upon him the title of president emeritus.[67]
Kennedy joined the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a non-partisan Washington DC–based think tank, as a Global Fellow focused on geopolitical strategic competition.[68] Kennedy was named Director of the Wilson Center’s newly established Wahba Institute for Strategic Competition[3] aimed at shaping conversations and proposing meaningful policy reforms to strengthen American leadership in the era of great power competition.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMinnesota's 2nd congressional district 2001–2003 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMinnesota's 6th congressional district 2003–2007 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forU.S. Senator fromMinnesota (Class 1) 2006 | Succeeded by |
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by Ed Schafer Acting | President of the University of North Dakota 2016–2019 | Succeeded by Joshua Wynne Acting |
| Preceded by | President of theUniversity of Colorado System 2019–2021 | Succeeded by Todd Saliman |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
