Senior Fellows

The Charles F. Kettering Foundation has established an elite group of senior fellows to work with the foundation to advance our pro-inclusive democracy mission.

As we are implementing our new strategic plan, we have built a roster of distinguished senior fellows to act as experts and thought leaders for the foundation. Our senior fellows represent the nation’s leading democracy thinkers and practitioners, drawn from both major parties and new emerging parties, the academy, government, public service, civil society, business, and journalism. Each is already engaged in an active body of work that aligns with our vision and mission to advance and defend democracy, speaking up and speaking out in defense of democracy.

We will build on the unique strengths, interests, and bases of experience of our senior fellows by engaging them in Kettering’s programs and initiatives in a variety of ways. Some will contribute to our new blog series, From Many, We, and others will be guests on our new podcast, The Context. All will be involved in some of our public conversations as panelists or keynotes.

Emeritus Senior Fellows

  • Chris Matthews is the former news anchor of Hardball with Chris Matthews on MSNBC, where he anchored all presidential elections from 1994 to 2020 and hosted panel discussions with analysts and political figures. Throughout his career, Matthews has kept faith in electoral politics, a love of democracy, and hope in the judgment of the American people. After serving with the Peace Corps in Africa, Matthews worked for Senator Frank Moss and the US Senate Budget Committee. From 1977-1980, he worked in the Carter White House, first as a staffer and then as a speechwriter to President Jimmy Carter. Following the 1980 election, Matthews served as administrative assistant to Speaker of the House Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill Jr. until 1986. In the late 1980s, Matthews left politics for journalism. He was a syndicated columnist and Washington bureau chief with the San Francisco Examiner, and then a national columnist with the San Francisco Chronicle. He is the author of eight books, including: Hardball: How Politics Is Played, Told by One Who Knows the Game; Kennedy & Nixon: The Rivalry that Shaped Postwar America; Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero; Tip and The Gipper: When Politics Worked; Bobby Kennedy: A Raging Spirit; and This Country: My Life in Politics and History. Matthews holds a BA from the College of the Holy Cross, attended graduate school in economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and holds 34 honorary degrees.

    2024-2025

    Chris Matthews

  • David Pepper is a lawyer, writer, political activist, former elected official, adjunct professor, and served as the chair of the Ohio Democratic Party from 2015 to 2021. In that role, he was engaged in numerous battles and extensive litigation over voter suppression and election laws in the Buckeye State, as well as reform efforts to enhance voting and end gerrymandering. Pepper is the author of Laboratories of Autocracy: A Wake-Up Call from Behind the Lines (2021) and Saving Democracy: A User’s Manual for Every American (2023). Both books discuss recent attacks on state level democracy and lay out the steps citizens can take to save it. He also teaches election and voting rights law as an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Law. Born and raised in Cincinnati, David is a fifth-generation Cincinnatian who served on the Cincinnati City Council from 2001 to 2005. David earned his BA magna cum laude from Yale University, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and later earned his JD from Yale Law School.

    2024-2025

    David Pepper

  • 2024-2025

    Kelley Robinson

  • Christine Todd Whitman is president of the Whitman Strategy Group, a consulting firm that specializes in helping leading companies find innovative solutions to environmental challenges. Whitman served as the 50th and first woman governor of the State of New Jersey from 1994 until 2001. She also served in the cabinet of President George W. Bush as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency’s administration from January 2001 to June 2003. She is the author of a 2005 New York Times bestseller, It’s My Party Too: The Battle for the Heart of the GOP and the Future of America. Whitman also serves a number of nonprofit organizations: chair of the American Security Project, vice-chair of the Board of Trustees of the Eisenhower Fellowships, Trustee of the National World War II Museum, and is member of the board of directors of both the World Food Program USA and the Meridian Institute. She is co-chair of the following organizations: Forward Party, States United Democracy Center, Joint Ocean Commission Initiative Leadership Council, Aspen Institute K12 Climate Action Task Force, and National Institute for Civil Discourse. She is a founding member of the Climate Leadership Council.

    2024-2025

    Christine Todd Whitman