Institute of Politics

  • Pritzker Fellows
  • Former Fellows

Former Fellows

Since 2013, the Institute has hosted hundreds of Pritzker Fellows, including U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm; former RNC chairman Michael Steele; Vladimir Kara-Murza, Chairman of the Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom; and Kelly Ayotte, former U.S. Senator, R-NH.

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Former Fellows

Fall 2022 Pritzker Fellows

Spring 2022 Pritzker Fellows

  • Joel Benenson, Democratic Pollster & Strategist for President Barack Obama’s 2008 & 2012 Presidential Campaigns
  • Perry Bacon Jr., Columnist for The Washington Post; former Writer for FiveThirtyEight & MSNBC Commentator
  • Keisha Lance Bottoms, former Atlanta Mayor & City Councilwoman
  • Sarah Longwell, Republican Strategist & Publisher of The Bulwark
  • Neil Newhouse, Republican Strategist & Pollster for Gov. Mitt Romney’s 2012 Presidential Campaign
  • Erin Simpson, Director of Technology Policy at the Center for American Progress

Fall 2021 Pritzker Fellows

  • Catherine Bertini, Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme, Nominated By Presidents Bush & Clinton
  • Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme, Nominated By President Obama
  • Tony Fabrizio, Chief Pollster for President Donald Trump’s 2016 & 2020 Presidential Campaigns
  • Janice Jackson, former Chief Executive Officer for Chicago Public Schools, the Third Largest School District In the U.S.
  • Mitch Landrieu, former Mayor of New Orleans & Founder of E Pluribus Unum, A Nonprofit Focused on Advancing Racial Equity & Social Justice In the South
  • Russell Moore, Public Theologian & Director of the Public Theology Project at Christianity Today
  • Lotfullah Najafizada, Afghan Journalist & Director of TOLONews, Afghanistan’s First 24-Hour News & Current Affairs Television Channel

Spring 2021 Pritzker Fellows

  • Justin Amash, U.S. Representative from Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District (2011-2021)
  • Nathan Law, Activist, Founder & former Chairman of Demosistō & former Member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong
  • Heather McTeer Toney, Climate Justice Liaison at the Environmental Defense Fund & Senior Advisor to Moms Clean Air Force
  • Cecile Richards, Co-Founder of Supermajority & former President of Planned Parenthood (2006-2018)
  • Sally Yates, former Deputy U.S. Attorney General (2015-2017) & Acting U.S. Attorney General (Jan. 20-30, 2017)

Winter 2021 Pritzker Fellows

  • Tim Alberta, Chief Political Correspondent for POLITICO
  • Heidi Heitkamp, Former Democratic Senator from North Dakota & Co-Founder & Chair of the One Country Project
  • Will Hurd, Former Republican Congressman from Texas
  • Kara Swisher, Editor-at-Large at New York Magazine & Host of the "Sway" & "Pivot" Podcasts

Fall 2020 Pritzker Fellows

  • James Bennet, former Editor of The New York Times Editorial Page & former Editor-In-Chief of The Atlantic
  • Jelani Cobb, Staff Writer at The New Yorker
  • Addisu Demissie, Democratic Strategist & Founding Principal of 50+1 Strategies
  • Scott Jennings, CNN Political Contributor, Republican Strategist & Founding Partner of RunSwitch Public Relations
  • Samantha Vinograd, CNN National Security Analyst

Winter 2020 Pritzker Fellows

  • John Bouman, President of the Shriver Center on Poverty Law & Chairman of the “Vote Yes for Fair Tax” Illinois Ballot Initiative Committee
  • Abdul El-Sayed, Progressive Activist, former Executive Director of the Detroit Health Department & Michigan Gubernatorial Candidate
  • Fiona Hill, Senior Fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe in the Foreign Policy Program at Brookings
  • Margaret Hoover, Host of PBS’ “Firing Line with Margaret Hoover,” Author & Political Commentator
  • Shahira Knight, former White House Director of Legislative Affairs & Deputy Director of Economic Policy

Fall 2019 Pritzker Fellows

  • Enrique Acevedo, Anchor of ‘Noticiero Univision Edicion Nocturna’ and Special Correspondent for Univision’s News Division
  • Jane Coaston, Senior Politics Reporter at Vox
  • Joe Donnelly, former Democratic Senator from Indiana
  • Heather McGhee, Senior Fellow at Demos & NBC News Analyst
  • Tom Rooney, former Republican Congressman from Florida

Spring 2019 Pritzker Fellows

  • Karine Jean-Pierre, Chief Public Affairs Officer for MoveOn and an NBC & MSNBC Political Analyst
  • John King, former U.S. Secretary of Education
  • Jack Markell, former Governor of Delaware
  • Mark Sanford, former U.S. Representative & Governor of South Carolina
  • Sue Mi Terry, former National Security Council Staff Member
  • David Wasserman, House Editor for The Cook Political Report
  • David Yepsen, Host of "Iowa Press" on Iowa Public Television

Winter 2019 Pritzker Fellows

  • Sue Dvorsky, former Chairwoman of the Iowa Democratic Party
  • Lisa Madigan, Attorney General of Illinois
  • Claire McCaskill, former Democratic Senator from Missouri
  • Peter Roskam, former Republican Congressman from Illinois
  • Matt Strawn, former Chairman of the Iowa Republican Party
  • Laura Washington, Chicago Sun-Times columnist & ABC-7 Political Analyst

Fall 2018 Pritzker Fellows

  • Amanda Carpenter, Author, CNN Contributor & former Senior Communications Adviser for Sen. Ted Cruz
  • Tom Davis, former Republican Congressman from Virginia & Chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee
  • Mary Katharine Ham, Conservative Commentator, Senior Writer at The Federalist & CNN Political Commentator
  • Steve Israel, former Democratic Congressman from New York & Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
  • Roberta Jacobson, former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico & Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere
  • Ameya Pawar, former Alderman for the 47th Ward of the City of Chicago
  • Maria Ramirez, Co-Founder of Politibot & Political Reporter for Univision
  • Paul Tewes, Veteran Political Strategist & Organizer Who Ran Barack Obama’s Historic Iowa Caucus in 2008

Spring 2018 Pritzker Fellows

  • Kelly Ayotte, former Senator from New Hampshire
  • Nneka Jones Tapia, Executive Director of the Cook County Department of Corrections
  • Vladimir Kara-Murza, Chairman of the Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom and Vice Chairman of Open Russia
  • Gerrit Lansing, former Chief Digital Officer for the White House and the Republican National Committee
  • Matt Lewis, Author & Senior Columnist at The Daily Beast
  • Mark Murray, Senior Political Editor at NBC News
  • Tom Perriello, former Congressman from Virginia
  • Dawn Turner, Author & former Columnist for The Chicago Tribune

Winter 2018 Pritzker Fellows

  • McKay Coppins, Author & staff writer at The Atlantic
  • Shomik Dutta, Co-Founder of Higher Ground Labs
  • Betsy Hoover, Co-Funder of Higher Ground Labs
  • Kirsten Lodal, CEO & Co-Founder of the Anti-Poverty Organization LIFT
  • Eboo Patel, Founder & President of the Interfaith Youth Core
  • Jay Roach, Award-Winning Film Director & Producer

Fall 2017 Pritzker Fellows

  • Laura Haim, Journalist & former Spokesperson for Emmanuel Macron's Presidential Campaign
  • Fred P. Hochberg, former Chairman & President of the U.S. Export-Import Bank
  • Jason Kander, Founder of Let America Vote and former Missouri Secretary of State & State Representative
  • Jeff Roe, Republican Political Consultant and Senior Strategist & Campaign Manager for Ted Cruz's 2016 Presidential Campaign
  • Kathleen Sebelius, former Secretary of Health & Human Services Department & former Governor of Kansas
  • Bakari Sellers, former South Carolina State Representative
  • Karen Tumulty, National Political Correspondent for The Washington Post


Spring 2017 Pritzker Fellows

  • Najla Ayoubi, Human Rights Activist, Lawyer & former Judge in Afghanistan
  • Tony Blinken, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State & Deputy National Security Advisor for President Obama
  • Alfredo Corchado, Journalist, Author & Co-Director of the Borderlands Program at The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism
  • Bob Dold, former Two-Term U.S. Representative for the 10th District of Illinois
  • Jennifer Granholm, former Two-Term Governor of Michigan, Educator & Political Commentator
  • Steven Greenhouse, former Labor Correspondent for The New York Times
  • Shailagh Murray, former Senior Advisor to President Obama

Winter 2017 Pritzker Fellows

  • Matt Bai, Yahoo News National Political Columnist & author
  • Jackie Calmes, New York Times National Correspondent
  • Robert Costa, National Political Reporter at the Washington Post

Fall 2016 Pritzker Fellows

  • Liesl Hickey, Republican Strategist
  • Kirsten Kukowski, Republican Media Strategist
  • Michael Morell, Former Acting Director of the CIA
  • Bruce Reed, Former White House Adviser to Presidents Clinton and Obama and Vice President Biden
  • Philip Revzin, Former Publisher of Wall Street Journal in Europe and Asia


Spring 2016 Pritzker Fellows

  • Lavea Brachman, Executive Director & Co-Founder of the Greater Ohio Policy Center
  • Ilana Dayan, Anchor of the Investigative News Program “Uvda” (“Fact”) on Israel’s Channel 2
  • Jeff Greenfield, Award-Winning Political Journalist Who Has Reported for CBS News, CNN, ABC News, PBS, The Daily Beast & POLITICO
  • Tom Harkin, Retired U.S. Senator from Iowa, former Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
  • Daniel Isom, former St. Louis Chief of Police
  • Maria Latella, Political TV Show Host, Author & Columnist for Il Messaggero, Rome’s Leading Daily Newspaper
  • Mike Murphy, Veteran GOP Media Consultant & Campaign Strategist
  • Michael Nutter, former Mayor of Philadelphia & President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors

Fall 2015 Pritzker Fellows

  • Tom Dart, Cook County Sheriff
  • Matthew Dowd, ABC News Political Analyst & former Chief Strategist for George W. Bush’s 2004 Presidential Campaign
  • Husain Haqqani, former Pakistani Ambassador to the United States
  • Reihan Salam, Executive Editor Of National Review, Policy Fellow at The National Review Institute & Co-Author of “Grand New Party”
  • Jessica Yellin, former CNN Chief White House Correspondent
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