Princeton University President Emerita Shirley M. Tilghman, as well as Princeton Class of 1971 graduate Mitch Daniels and Class of 1965 graduate Charlie Gibson, were recently elected to the Commission on Presidential Debates. The nonpartisan commission organizes presidential and vice presidential debates during the United States general election.
The three new members bring the total number of Princeton-affiliated members of the commission to seven. Tilghman led the University from 2001-13; Daniels is the president of Purdue University and a former governor of Indiana; and Gibson is a University trustee and veteran television journalist.
Michael McCurry, a Class of 1976 graduate and former press secretary to U.S. President Bill Clinton, serves as co-chair of the commission. Other Princeton-affiliated members include: former U.S. senator and diplomat John Danforth, a Class of 1958 graduate; John Griffen, managing director of Allen and Company and a graduate alumnus of the Class of 1986; and Jane Harman, director and CEO of the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars and a Princeton parent.
The Commission on Presidential Debates was established as a nonprofit organization in 1987 to ensure that presidential and vice presidential debates provide the best possible information to viewers and listeners. The group also produces voter education materials and provides technical assistance to emerging democracies across the world interested in establishing debate traditions in their own countries.
The commission will next start planning for the 2016 presidential and vice presidential debates.
