These World Leaders Went to Harvard Before Trump’s Foreign Student Ban

Lawrence Wong Photographer: Ore Huiying/Bloomberg Photo by Ore Huiying /Bloomberg

Article content

(Bloomberg) — The Trump administration’s move to block Harvard University from enrolling international students doesn’t just put more financial pressure on the school but also threatens a cradle for global political leaders.

Article content

Article content

The US Department of Homeland Security on Thursday revoked Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification, citing an “unsafe campus environment.” It means foreign students can no longer attend the university, while existing international students must transfer or lose their legal status.

Article content

Article content

The decision has thrust thousands of students into limbo, including those who may have planned to follow a well-trodden path to public office upon graduation. The school’s potential loss may be another’s gain: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology on Friday said it would unconditionally accept Harvard students so they can study “without disruption,” seizing the opportunity to grab talent.

Article content

Article content

Harvard has produced eight US leaders, most recently former President Barack Obama, the most among universities. Outside the US, Harvard has educated countless international students who went on to become political elites. From Canada to Singapore, here’s a list of some of the current world leaders who attended the Ivy League school.

Article content

Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada

Article content

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, fresh off an election victory in late April, is well known as a figure in international finance, and previously headed both the Bank of Canada through the 2008 financial crisis and the Bank of England through Brexit. He earned a bachelor of economics from Harvard University in 1988, before he went to Oxford University for a master of economics in 1993 and a PhD in economics in 1995. 

Article content

Article content

Lawrence Wong, Prime Minister of Singapore

Article content

Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who won his mandate to lead the city-state with the ruling People’s Action Party earlier this month, received a master’s in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School in 2004. He also earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Michigan, respectively.

Article content

Lai Ching-te, President of Taiwan 

Article content

A former kidney doctor, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te entered politics after military tensions flared with Beijing in the mid-1990s. He obtained a master of public health degree from Harvard University in 2003 and is one of the few physicians in the self-ruled island with an expertise in rehabilitation, clinical care and public health.

Article content

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of Greece

Article content

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who took office in 2019, obtained his bachelor’s degree in Social Studies from Harvard University, and earned an MA in international relations from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.