Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who made no secret of being a Boston Red Sox fan, will become a visiting teacher at Harvard University in the fall.
Mr. de Blasio, who ran for governor and then Congress, said his new position would allow him to pass on the lessons he had learned to create universal preschool and as mayor of the country’s most populous city amid a deadly pandemic. learned to deal with.
The former mayor will be a visiting fellow at both the Harvard Kennedy School and the Institute of Politics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. During his time as a fellow, Mr. de Blasio will focus on issues such as early childhood education and moving through a pandemic that the former mayor considers a “bookend” to his eight years in office.
At the School of Public Health, Mr. de Blasio will teach an eight-week class on leadership focused on navigating major public health challenges. As part of both fellowships, the mayor will meet face-to-face with students for consultations and serve as a seminar speaker.
Other fellows from the School of Public Health will include former Boston Mayor Kim Janney. Among those joining Mr de Blasio at the Political Institute will be former Swedish prime minister Stefan Löfven and former Wyoming governor Matthew Mead.
“It’s exciting to spend time with really talented young people who are looking forward to going into public service,” Mr. de Blasio said in an interview. “I hope I can inspire them, but also give them some real-life understanding of what’s next and how to be effective.”
Meyer, who grew up in Massachusetts, will remain a New Yorker, continuing to live in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Park Slope.
Mr. de Blasio created Universal Prekindergarten shortly after being elected, and it is regarded as his signature achievement. During the final year of his term, Mr. de Blasio presided over the city as it became the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.
“He was the mayor of New York City, and within that comes the incredible complexities of policy across the board, whether it’s health, housing or education,” said Setty D. Warren, interim director of the Institute of Politics.
Warren, the former mayor of Newton, Mass., said he and Mr. de Blasio were friends who had gotten to know each other better while serving as mayors of their respective cities.
Since the mid-19th century, no New York City mayor has won a high office.
Christina Greer, a political scientist at Fordham University, said Mr. de Blasio’s new role showed he was still focused on being a national figure, a criticism that followed the mayor when he left South Carolina, Nevada, Preached in Iowa and New Hampshire. unsuccessful run for president during his second term.
“Where does the mayor of New York City go after finishing work?” Ms. Greer said. “They have the greatest job in the world, but it seems like a dead end job for many people at the same time.”
Mr. de Blasio left office with low turnout numbers but made it clear he wanted to remain in electoral politics. He hinted for months after Andrew Cuomo resigned from that office in November following a report from the New York State Attorney General that found Cuomo had sexually assaulted several women. The mayor decided not to follow the government. Kathy Hochul garnered strong fundraising and polling numbers.
Mr. de Blasio also considered entering the race for a congressional seat, which would have combined parts of Staten Island and Park Slope, but decided against it after the district was invalidated by courts. The revamped districts that followed created a new seat of Congress that stretched from Manhattan to Park Slope, and Mr. de Blasio jumped in this spring.
Meyer was seen campaigning outside schools in shorts and sneakers, possibly reminding parents and potential voters about her achievements around early childhood education. But the elections once again showed no strong desire for Mr. de Blasio’s candidacy, he was once again ruled out.
After each return, Mr. de Blasio appeared to be more reflective of his time as mayor. One criticism was that he often did not enjoy being mayor.
During his return from the Congressional race, Mr. de Blasio said he made “mistakes” in the way he approached the job.
It is a lesson that Mr. de Blasio said he hopes to pass on to future leaders.
“I mistook policy for popularity,” Mr. de Blasio said in the interview. “But really, to be a better leader, you need to think about the optics and tone more often than I did.”