Former Gov. Deval Patrick to join Harvard Kennedy School

Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick will be joining the Harvard Kennedy School next week.

The Democrat will serve as a professor of the practice of public leadership and as co-director of the School’s Center for Public Leadership, Harvard Kennedy School Dean Douglas Elmendorf said in a news release Tuesday.

“I am thrilled that Gov. Patrick will be joining Harvard Kennedy School,” Elmendorf said.

The Center for Public Leadership prepares students for careers in public leadership through teaching, mentorship, and practical experience, according to Elmendorf.

Patrick said he’s looking forward to the new opportunity.

“With the scale and scope of the challenges facing humankind, the world needs conscientious, dedicated leaders at every level in every sector, people willing to spend their ‘political’ capital, not just accumulate it,” he said in a written statement.

Patrick served two four-year terms as governor, from 2007 to 2015, and was the state’s first Black governor.

The Harvard College and Harvard Law School graduate was nominated in 1994 by then-President Bill Clinton to serve as assistant attorney general for civil rights.

Patrick would later work as general counsel for Texaco and executive vice-president and general counsel at the Coca-Cola company before launching a bid for governor.