In Memoriam: Former Executive Director Setti Warren

The Shorenstein Center mourns the loss and celebrates the life of our friend and colleague Setti Warren, who passed away suddenly of natural causes on November 2, 2025. Setti was Executive Director of the center from 2018-2022, leading the staff and center through a time of transition with expertise and grace. He made a huge impact on the faculty, staff, fellows, and students he worked with here, as well as later as Director of the Institute of Politics. 

The following are memories and testimonies to him from his colleagues and friends at the Shorenstein Center:

“Setti lived and modeled the values that infuse this school: excellence, enterprise, collegiality and a muscular commitment to service. His title was Executive Director, but his role was a mashup of earlier lives: he was an intelligence officer helping us see around corners; a community leader building a sense of shared purpose; a highly trained lawyer challenging our assumptions and a mayor sharing a vision for the future we could build together, day by day by day.

His warmth and humor were infectious; even the bad days were a chance to learn something useful and the good days were sublime. He mentored junior colleagues with passion and pride; understood the difference between power and influence and when to use either one; he balanced strong principles with an open mind, modeling curiosity and conviction.”

Nancy Gibbs,
Shorenstein Center Director

“Setti brought a radiant energy and warmth to the Shorenstein Center, his smile truly without equal. It was a sad day when he made the understandable decision to move to the IOP, where his skills and background were a perfect match. I missed our near-daily conversations then, just as I will miss him now. He was unquestionably one of the finest people I have known. I vividly remember that cold November day in 2018, when we sat together at Fenway Park for the first Harvard-Yale game held there. It was more than just a football game. It was the pure joy of sharing his company. Early this September, we spoke about catching a Red Sox game before the season ended. I never followed up—a regret now, but one far outweighed by the many magical moments I was fortunate to be in his presence.”

Tom Patterson
Bradlee Professor of Government and the Press

“I first met Setti when my eldest daughter won a Halloween window painting competition in Newton. She was invited to City Hall to receive an award from the Mayor. She was incredibly nervous and Setti took his time with her, calming her down and leaving her feeling proud and excited. Later on, I got to know Setti personally. We talked about many things over the years. But the best conversations we had were about our boys. They went to school together beginning in kindergarten. Setti and I used to see each other regularly at back to school nights, curriculum nights, parent-teacher conferences, school events, and graduations. Setti was always incredibly proud of John and we always had a great time exchanging stories of our boys’ adventures and misadventures. He was the epitome of a loving and devoted father.There were many other ways in which our lives intersected, both at Harvard and in his capacity as Mayor of our town, Newton. Yet more than those intersections between our lives, and even more so than our many, sometimes intense conversations about local and national politics, social issues, and the two Harvard Centers he led, it is these casual conversations about our kids that I think most defined him for me as a person and that I will miss most.”

Matt Baum
Marvin Kalb Professor of Global Communications

“When Setti saw a spark in someone, a flare of talent or potential, he would both nurture it and advertise it to all who came near. He was a powerful advocate and mentor for me as a member of his staff growing into a new leadership position. His trust in me, in both exciting times and difficult ones, always made it clear there was a path forward, and I could travel it. He had strong convictions, and yet was always open to new ideas and curious about other perspectives. To have him as a friend and colleague was to have a true champion in your corner. I will forever miss his leadership, compassion, buoyancy, and camaraderie, and will remember him with the twinkle in his eye and grin on his face from the last time we waved hello across a crowded lobby at the Kennedy School.”

Liz Schwartz
Director of Communications & Strategy

“Setti’s greatest gifts to me are twofold. Exposing me to the magic of Sly Stone, and changing the trajectory of my entire life. I thank him for both, eternally. Proof of his power? I write this in the cool, morning sun of Los Angeles; my life having spun into a reality far beyond my wildest dreams. Setti’s hand is the hand that pulled me up into another stratosphere, first. And so, I will forever continue his legacy of lifting others up. I spent about as much time with him as one can with a person. I knew his dreams, goals, pains, and anxieties. I knew him as a human being — first, foremost, and forever. Being human is complicated business and the true challenge is holding onto the light. Setti had light in spades. How could someone filled with so much life leave? I’m still grappling with this question and I don’t think I’ll ever find an answer. Grief is long and the road is winding, but I pick up the torch and continue on in the light, for my champion and my friend. To end with Sly — thank you for letting me be myself, Setti.”

Chelsey Crabbe
Executive Coordinator (2018-2023)

“I’ll always be grateful for Setti’s electric smile, his contagious energy, his good humor, his open door, and his practical guidance and wisdom, especially at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. But I think what I miss most is his boundless, genuine curiosity and how well he listened, in a way that made you feel truly heard and never rushed, no matter what was going on around him. Every time we met, he’d ask great questions that always led to more questions. And his first question was always some form of “How are you?”

As a former local government official, he understood first-hand how good journalism underpins civic accountability, and he understood the importance of supporting local news. It bothered him that there were far fewer journalists covering the mayor’s office when he left than when he entered it.”

Carmen Nobel
Program Director and Editor-in-Chief, The Journalist’s Resource

Setti Warren’s contributions to the Shorenstein Center were both tangible and intangible, public and personal, but the selection below of his writing and speaking while serving as Executive Director gives a sense of the passion and thoughtfulness he brought to his work here, and throughout his life.

America’s Economic Experience, panel discussion with Tara Westover, Gene Sperling, and Setti Warren; July 23, 2020

America’s Economic Experience: The Reality of the Rural/Urban Divide, panel discussion with Connor Sheets,
Phillip Martin, Dr. Gordon Hanson, Tara Westover, and Setti Warren; August 13, 2020

This is a Moment of Generational Change for Black People – If We Learn the Lessons of the Past, op-ed originally published in The Telegraph; June 5, 2020

George Floyd protests highlight the deep racial disparities in the US, op-ed originally published in The Telegraph; May 31, 2020

The GBH Forum Network compiled a landing page of events that Setti Warren participated in during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Local news and civic accountability: 5 questions for Setti Warren, The Journalist’s Resource; September 19, 2018 (or listen to the podcast of the related discussion event here)