Title:Meet the Chiefs of Staff

Hoyas Ron Klain and Tina Flournoy tapped to join historic Biden-Harris administration

Before they were selected to join the ranks of the current administration as chiefs of staff, Ron Klain (C’83) and Tina Flournoy (C’78, L’84) graced the walkways of Georgetown’s campus as undergraduate students and established themselves as Washington, D.C., public servants. Klain serves as President Joseph R. Biden’s chief of staff, while Flournoy serves in the same role for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Klain, who received his bachelor’s degree in government, has a robust background in politics and public service, serving as a senior White House aide under former presidents Bill Clinton (SFS’68, H’80) and Barack Obama, as well as an adviser for numerous presidential campaigns. He also has close ties to Biden, as he was his chief of staff during his time as vice president.

“No one bleeds Hoya blue like Ron Klain,” says Mo Elleithee, founding executive director of the Institute of Politics and Public Service at the McCourt School of Public Policy, for which Klain served as advisory board member. Crediting Klain’s close ties with the university and his dedication to teaching and advising students, Elleithee adds that Klain epitomizes Georgetown’s value of people for others in every scope of his career.

As a double Hoya graduate from the College’s American Studies program and Georgetown Law, Flournoy holds a wealth of experience in D.C. and federal politics. Immediately after earning her J.D., she served as a law clerk for Judge Julia Cooper Mack of the D.C. Court of Appeals, and went on to a number of positions in Democratic politics, including deputy campaign manager for the Clinton-Gore presidential campaign in 1996 and a senior adviser to former Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean. Before her recent appointment as chief of staff to Vice President Harris, Flournoy acted as chief of staff to President Clinton after his presidency ended.

Georgetown Law Dean William Treanor applauded Flournoy’s appointment and her “extraordinary career of public service,” stating that “[it] embodies the Law Center’s mission of service to others.”

“This has been a most challenging time, but I am looking forward to what the administration will do to move us forward as a nation,” he wrote.

Klain and Flournoy join the roster of Hoyas who have served as chiefs of staff for four out of the last five presidents. Georgetown also boasts the largest number of alumni who have served as Congressional chiefs of staff compared to any other university.