Mark Kennedy (politician)

In 2000 Kennedy won the Republican nomination for the 2nd district and faced four-term Democratic incumbent David Minge. He had never run for political office before. In the closest congressional race of that cycle, Kennedy defeated Minge by 155 votes.

Leading up to the 2002 elections, although Minnesota did not gain or lose any districts, Kennedy's 2nd district—an enormous 28-county district stretching from the southwestern corner of the state to the fringes of the Twin Cities—was dismantled. Its territory was split up among four neighboring districts. Kennedy's home outside Watertown was just inside the reconfigured 6th district, in the Twin Cities' northern suburbs.

In 2002 Kennedy initially expected to face the 6th district's three-term Democratic incumbent, Bill Luther. But the new 6th was somewhat more Republican than its predecessor, and Luther opted to move to the reconfigured 2nd district, where he eventually lost to John Kline. Kennedy instead faced Janet Robert, a lawyer and longtime Democratic activist. In one of the most expensive congressional races in Minnesota history, Kennedy was elected with 57% of the vote.

In 2004, Kennedy faced child safety advocate Patty Wetterling. He received 54% percent of the vote to Wetterling's 46%.

Kennedy did not seek reelection to the House in 2006. Instead he ran against DFL nominee and Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by DFL incumbent Mark Dayton. Also in the race were the Independence Party nominee, Robert Fitzgerald; the Green Party nominee, Michael Cavlan; and the Constitution Party nominee, Ben Powers.

Klobuchar won the election, receiving 58% of the vote to Kennedy's 38%.

Kennedy's support of the proposed surge in the Iraq War during the 2006 Senate election was described as "bold and smart" on the Brit Hume show on Fox News (Fox News, Brit Hume Show, 12-27-06). Anderson Cooper, an anchor on CNN, said that "Kennedy doesn't ignore the elephant in the room. To the contrary, he looks it straight in the eye" (CNN, Anderson Cooper 360°, 10-25-06).

A proponent of free trade, Kennedy voted for giving the president fast-track authority and for the Central America Free Trade Agreement.[2]

Kennedy supported the Bush tax cuts and voted for the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan[3] and the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.[4] His also sponsored a line-item veto,[5] a lifetime ban on all members of Congress becoming lobbyists,[6] full deductibility of medical expenses,[7] no parole for sex offenders,[8] and Medicare Plan Enrollment Fraud Protection.[9]

Kennedy's record of bipartisanship included partnering with 20 Democrats to lead legislation and having more than half the Democrats in the House co-sponsor bills he introduced. Such bills included:

• the Teachers for Tomorrow's Careers Act with Rush Holt from New Jersey,[10]
• the Fair Care for the Uninsured Act with Dan Lipinski from Illinois,[11][12]
• the Rural Access to Emergency Services Act with Earl Pomeroy from North Dakota,[13]
• the Clean Alternatives for Energy Independence Act with Mark Udall from Colorado,[14]
• the Emergency Wetlands Loan Act with Mike Thompson from California,[15]
• the Child Support Enforcement Act with Juanita Millender-McDonald from California,[16] and
• the SLAM Act (to increase penalties on those who traffic and sell methamphetamines) with Darlene Hooley from Oregon.[17]

Kennedy called himself "100% pro-life". He voted in favor of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act and the Unborn Victims of Violence Act. He voted to sustain Bush's veto of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005.[2]

In 2007 Kennedy was appointed to the President's Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiation (ACTPN).[18] Part of the Office of the United States Trade Representative, ACTPN considers trade policy issues in the context of overall national interest.

In 2008 Kennedy, along with former Representatives Tim Penny and Bill Frenzel of Minnesota, founded the Economic Club of Minnesota (ECOM),[19] a nonpartisan platform for national and international leaders in business, government, and public policy to present their ideas on how Minnesota can better compete in an increasingly globalized economy.

Also in 2008 he established the Frontiers of Freedom Lecture Series at the Eugene J. McCarthy Center for Public Policy at his alma mater, St. John's University.

Kennedy became a member of the Economic Club of Washington in 2013 and Chatham House in 2014.

In 2015 Kennedy was elected to the Council on Foreign Relations.

From 2007 to 2010 Kennedy served as the global retail business development lead at Accenture, a global management consulting, technology, and outsourcing services firm. In 2010 he formed Chartwell Strategic Advisors LLC. Kennedy's activities through Chartwell include speaking on applying 360° Vision to bridge differences between business and society; the political left and right; the United States and the world.

From 2011 to 2013 Kennedy served as an executive in residence at Johns Hopkins University's Carey Business School in Baltimore, Maryland, teaching MBA courses on corporate statesmanship, global economic systems, as well as global immersion courses in Brazil and Turkey.

In January 2012 Kennedy accepted the position of director and professor at the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management.[20] During his tenure the school launched two new master's programs—one in Spanish with a Latin American focus and one focused on advocacy in the global environment[21]—and was designated as the PR Education Program of the Year by PR Week.[22]

Since 2012 Kennedy has also been an adjunct faculty member at Koç University in Istanbul, Turkey.

Kennedy introduced the concept of "Shapeholders" to the field of business strategy—the political, regulatory, media, and activist actors that shape a firm's opportunities and risks. Kennedy teaches how to effectively engage shapeholders both at home and abroad to profitably advance business strategies while benefiting society.

On March 15, 2016, the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education announced that Kennedy had been selected as the twelfth President of the University of North Dakota.[23] Kennedy, who had filed his application on January 2, 2016, was in February the third of six finalists to visit the school.[24] He succeeded president Robert Kelley, who retired in January 2016, and Ed Schafer, who served as interim President until Kennedy took office on July 1.[25] He was inaugurated on October 10, 2016.[26]

Notable achievements by UND during Kennedy's tenure include being ranked by U.S. News as one of the 25 Most Innovative Schools[27] and being awarded the 2017 Big Sky Conference Presidents' Cup for outstanding student-athlete academic achievement while winning four conference championships in one year.[28]

On May 9, 2017, Kennedy's book Shapeholders: Business Success in the Age of Activism was published by Columbia Business School.[29]

On April 9, 2019, Kennedy was named the sole finalist for the position of President at the University of Colorado. On April 10, he stated in an email that he would accept the position. [30]

In May 2019 the University of Colorado Board of Regents elected Kennedy, on a 5-4 vote, as president of the four-campus University of Colorado system. Kennedy started as an employee on June 15 for a transition period with outgoing president Bruce Benson and became president on July 1.[31][32][33]