Pete Buttigieg

Pete Buttigieg served from 2021 to 2025 as U.S. Secretary of Transportation. During his tenure, he worked to launch over seventy thousand infrastructure projects across the country, improve transportation safety and technology, expand airline passenger protections, and resolve pandemic-related supply chain disruptions.

Previously, Buttigieg served two terms as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, where he was elected at the age of 29 and led the city to its strongest period of economic and population growth in decades. He also served for seven years as an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve, taking a leave of absence from his role as mayor in 2014 to deploy to Afghanistan. A candidate for the Democratic nomination for President in 2020, his historic campaign won the Iowa caucuses and finished second in the New Hampshire primary. Today, he is a leading voice, regularly featured on TV, podcasts, and digital media across the political spectrum — working to shape a more hopeful future.

He holds degrees in history and literature from Harvard and in philosophy, politics, and economics from Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He lives in northern Michigan with his husband Chasten, their two children, Gus and Penelope, and their dog, Buddy. Buttigieg is also a Spring 2026 Hauser Leader at the Center for Public Leadership at HKS.

"The IOP has played a vital role inspiring countless students - including me - to believe in the value of public service. Empowering young people to participate in politics has never mattered more, and I'm thrilled to be returning to a place where I learned so much. I will do my best to contribute to the IOP’s great tradition of inspiring and preparing new generations of leaders."