Mark Gearan

Mark Daniel Gearan (born September 19, 1956) is a public servant, lawyer, higher education expert, and the president of Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York.

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.

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.

While an undergraduate at Harvard, Gearan interned in Drinan's Washington office and worked on Drinan's re-election campaign in 1978.

It was there that Gearan met his future wife, Mary Herlihy, a fellow staffer in Drinan's office.

Gearan worked as a newspaper reporter for the Fitchburg, Massachusetts Sentinel and Enterprise for one year.

After leaving the newspaper, Gearan was chief of staff for U.S. Representative Berkley Bedell of Iowa for three years.

In 1983, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis appointed Gearan Director of Federal-State Relations for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a post he held until 1988 when Gearan joined Dukakis' campaign for the Presidency.

When Dukakis ran for the presidency in 1988, Gearan originally had the high-profile job of managing Dukakis' campaign during the crucial Iowa caucuses.

When Gary Hart dropped out of the race, the Dukakis campaign replaced Gearan with Hart's Iowa coordinator and sent Gearan back to Boston to be the campaign's national headquarters Press Secretary.

Although Gearan was disappointed by the decision, he accepted it.

"You know, it's a long life, and there aren't too many other things in politics but loyalty," he said when asked about the incident.

When Bush announced on August 17, 1988, that he was selecting Dan Quayle as his running mate after previously saying he planned to keep his choice secret until later during the convention, Gearan had one of the sharpest comments.

"We learned something about George Bush today. He can't keep a secret," said Gearan.

"and he can't stand up to the pressure of the right wing."

As Dukakis' Press spokesman, Gearan was frustrated by Republican negative campaigning and supported Dukakis' decision to respond.

"There comes a time when you respond," said Gearan.

"The dogs days of August are over."

Gearan added that Bush had falsely accused Dukakis of opposing the Stealth bomber and the D-5, a nuclear missile used on the Trident submarine.

After the election Gearan said that one of the mistakes Dukakis made after winning the Democratic nomination was not re-introducing himself to the American people.

"One of the big mistakes we made in 1988 was we assumed people knew who Michael Dukakis was," said Gearan.

After Dukakis' defeat, Mr. Gearan returned to run the Massachusetts Office of Federal Relations until 1989.

Gearan was executive director of the Democratic Governors Association from 1989 to 1992.

In 1991 Gearan was offered the job of Clinton's campaign's communications chief while Clinton was seeking the Democratic nomination for president.

Gearan was unable to accept because his wife was in a difficult pregnancy that confined her to bed for much of the time.

"This was a very exciting time in our lives," Gearan said.

"And Mary was quite sick and had left her job. In the beginning stages, it was one of those deals where we weren't sure how it was going to go. I was not able to move to Little Rock and give the 1,000 percent that was required at the time to Governor Clinton, because I was distracted."

When Clinton's effort floundered in New Hampshire amid allegations of extramarital affairs and draft dodging, Gearan flew to New Hampshire to help salvage Clinton's candidacy.

As executive director of the Democratic Governors Association, Gearan offered George Bush a slogan for his 1992 re-election campaign with a double-entendre: "Bush in '92. You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet."

He previously served as director of the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics, and from 1995 to 1999, served as the director of the Peace Corps.

He is the longest serving president in the history of HWS, serving from 1999-2017.

Gearan returned to the position in 2022.

In recognition of Gearan’s exemplary presidency and service, the HWS Board of Trustees awarded him an honorary degree in 2017 and named him President Emeritus of the Colleges, the first time in HWS history that the board bestowed the honor.

In 2018, 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.

Gearan 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.