Thomas Kean

Thomas Kean served as the Governor of New Jersey from 1982 to 1990.  He holds a BA from Princeton University and an MA from Columbia University Teachers College, and he has served as a trustee of both institutions.

Kean was named by President George W. Bush to head the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States. The Commission’s work culminated with the release of the 9/11 Commission Report. From 1990 until 2005, former Governor Kean served as President of Drew University. During his one-year tenure, he focused on shaping Drew into one of the nation’s leading small liberal arts universities by stressing the primacy of teaching, the creative use of technology in the liberal arts, and the importance of international education.

Kean is the author of The Politics of Inclusion (The Free Press, 1988) and is coauthor, with Lee H. Hamilton, of Without Precedent: The Inside Story of the 9/11 Commission (Alfred A. Knopf, 2006). He writes a regular column for the Star Ledger with former Governor Brendan Byrne and appears as a regular commentator on NJTV News.

Kean currently serves as Chair of the Board of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, vice chair of the Environmental Defense Fund, and on the board of The Seeing Eye. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Academy of Art & Sciences, and is the vice chair of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. He served on the Academy of American Poets’ Board and is a member of its Emeritus Circle.