David Gergen, advisor to four Presidents, powerhouse bipartisan journalist and respected educator, will share his inimitable perspective on the ups and downs of leadership and assertion of power at the Sunday General Session. Drawing on his years of profound experience in the White House, Gergen offers key lessons for future industry leaders and illuminates what it will take to succeed in the new economic and political age of America.

Gergen, senior political analyst for CNN, professor of public service at the Harvard Kennedy School and director of its Center for Public Leadership, got his start in public life as a speech writer in the Nixon White House. He went on to serve in the communications department for Gerald Ford and Director of Communications for Ronald Reagan and as an adviser to Bill Clinton and to the 1980 George H.W. Bush presidential campaign.

In 1985, Gergen began a career in journalism. He was the moderator of World @ Large, a 13-part PBS discussion series for two seasons and for five years teamed up with Mark Shields on the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour for widely acclaimed Friday night political discussions. Today, he contributes to CNN as a senior political analyst, Parade Magazine and the U.S. News & World Report as editor-at-large. He holds 19 honorary degrees and sits on many boards, including Teach for America, the Aspen Institute and Duke University.

Gergen graduated with honors from both Yale (BA, 1963) and Harvard Law School (LLB, 1967). He served as an officer in the U.S. Navy from 1967-1971.

He has been married since 1967 to Anne Gergen, a family therapist. They have two children, Christopher and Katherine and live in Cambridge, Massachusetts.