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Setti D. Warren, the director of Harvard’s Institute of Politics and former mayor of Newton, Mass., died suddenly at his home on Sunday. He was 55.
Harvard Kennedy School Dean Jeremy M. Weinstein and Harvard College Dean David J. Deming announced his death in an email to HKS and College affiliates Sunday afternoon. They called Warren a “visionary and tireless leader” and credited him with fostering debate at Harvard.
Warren led the IOP since July 2022, serving first as interim director before assuming the permanent position in March 2023. He had previously served as the mayor of Newton from 2010 to 2018, in the Clinton White House, and as a staffer for former U.S. Senator John Kerry.
“He will be remembered at Harvard by the many students he helped to teach, nurture, and mentor,” Weinstein and Deming wrote. “Setti’s students loved him, and their impact – like his – will reverberate for generations to come.”
During his tenure at the helm of the IOP — the hub of political activity at Harvard and one of the largest undergraduate organizations on campus — Warren made increasing ideological diversity a priority.
In a September 2023 interview with The Crimson, Warren said his main aim in the role was to “get our students ready to lead politically in this really challenging polarizing environment.”
“If we want to get our young people ready to lead they have to be able to have dialogue and understand perspectives,” said Warren, who led the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy from 2018 to 2022.
Within a year of his permanent appointment, the IOP saw a record number of applications with more than 900 students applying to join in spring 2024. The IOP has since launched several new programs including the Environmental Action Program and Global Affairs Program.
Under Warren, the IOP’s Conservative Coalition and the Harvard Republican Club launched a mentorship program for conservative students in October 2024. The program, named for former IOP board member Alice Stewart, connects undergraduates and conservative leaders.
The IOP has also made a concerted effort to platform conservatives through the JFK Jr. Forum and study group initiatives. This fall, the Forum hosted events with former Vice President Mike Pence and former Trump national security advisor John R. Bolton. Last spring, Rep. Nancy R. Mace (R-S.C.) appeared on campus through the Fellows and Study Groups program.
The IOP has attracted high-profile leaders from the Democratic Party, as well, with appearances from former U.S. President Joe Biden and former Vice Presidential Candidate Tim Walz in the spring.
“We’re always intentional about making sure we have diverse voices in the forum, people on the left and right,” Warren said after an October event with prominent Republican pundit Scott Jennings. “We definitely focus on making sure we have conservative representation.”
In late 2024, Warren also rebuked an effort by his own IOP student president, Pratyush Mallick ’25, for the organization to drop its nonpartisan status in the aftermath of Trump’s election.
“As the director and leader of the IOP, I believe that for it to be successful, experiential learning must happen on a nonpartisan basis,” Warren wrote in a letter to the editor.
Before coming to Harvard, Warren spent nine years as an intelligence specialist in the Navy Reserve and served a year of active duty in Iraq.
During his tenure in Newton — where he was the first popularly-elected African American mayor in Massachusetts history — Warren worked to combat soaring housing prices. He introduced a housing plan in 2016 that identified 70 potential development sites in the city and called for zoning amendments.
In 2017, Warren set his sights on higher office, declining to run for a third mayoral term and instead entering the race for Massachusetts governor. During his campaign, Warren championed a single-payer healthcare system and free tuition at public colleges. He withdrew six months before the election, citing budget constraints.
Warren married Elizabeth Tasker “Tassy” Plummer in 2006. The couple has two children.
“He was an extraordinary person and leader, a pillar of our community, and he will be dearly missed,” Weinstein and Deming wrote in their announcement.
—Staff writer Elise A. Spenner can be reached at elise.spenner@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @EliseSpenner.
—Staff writer Tanya J. Vidhun can be reached at tanya.vidhun@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @tanyavidhun.
