Mark Daniel Gearan (born September 19, 1956) is a public servant, lawyer, higher education expert, and the director of the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics. From 1999 to 2017, Gearan was the president of Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York, the longest serving president in the history of HWS. On March 1, 2018, Gearan became the 19th Director of The Institute of Politics (IOP) at Harvard University. When he concluded his presidency in 2017, he had served for 18 years, leading the Colleges through a period of unprecedented growth. In recognition of his service, the HWS Board of Trustees awarded Gearan an honorary degree and named him President Emeritus of the Colleges, the first time in HWS history that the board bestowed the honor. Following his final year at HWS, Gearan joined Harvard University as 'President in Residence' working on important issues facing higher education and the next generation of leaders at the Graduate School of Education. His position at Harvard reflects Gearan's stature in higher education where he has held leadership roles in numerous organizations including chair of National Campus Compact, chair of the Corporation for National and Community Service, chair of the Annapolis Group of selective liberal arts colleges, and chair of the Talloires Network Steering Committee, an international organization of college and university presidents from six continents committed to civic engagement. Early life and education Gearan was born in Gardner, Massachusetts and graduated from Gardner High School in 1974. Gearan earned his A.B. in government cum laude at Harvard University in 1978 and his J.D. degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1991. At Harvard he was the college roommate of future lawyer and conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt. His cousin is Anne Gearan, political correspondent at The Washington Post. Career in politics and government Gearan's early interest in politics began when he helped distribute leaflets in Jesuit priest Robert F. Drinan's campaign for Congress on a strong anti-Vietnam War platform in 1970. "As an eighth-grader growing up in Gardner, I had noticed that a Catholic priest was running for Congress amid the political turmoil of the Vietnam era," said Gearan. "From my early days on a bike leafleting the neighborhoods of Gardner, I graduated to driving the congressman," Gearan added. While an undergraduate at Harvard, Gearan interned in Drinan's Washington office and worked on Drinan's re-election campaign in 1978. It was