Mary Louise Kelly ’93
Dual concentrator: government and French language and literature
Eliot House
Mary Louise Kelly ’93 may have one of the most recognizable alumna voices. She’s been a trusted staple on NPR as host of All Things Considered and a longtime national security correspondent. She’s a gifted storyteller whose trademark humor and rueful honesty draw readers in with her most recent book, It. Goes. So. Fast.: The Year of No Do-Overs, which chronicles the bittersweet experiences of a working parent. On June 2, she turned to a different microphone as the featured speaker for Harvard Alumni Day. In an interview this May, she shared why she never misses a Reunion, how the view from Lamont Library stops her in her tracks, and why her Harvard story always comes back to her father.
Can you share how Harvard impacted your life?
I was a dual concentrator, studying both government and Romance languages and literature—I couldn’t choose just one. But Harvard gave me the resources to try both and trained me to look for connections. I have carried this into my career and life. How do two fields that don’t seem to intersect, intersect? If you dig a little, you usually find something that points you in an interesting direction.
Did your time as senior writer for the Crimson shape your approach to journalism?
I draw on the lessons I learned there every day. That experience taught me to write fast on deadlines. I was trying to fit it in around a full course load and a social life. If you wanted to file a story every day, you learned to write fast. Now that I work in broadcasting with daily news deadlines, I'm just so grateful for that. I’m also grateful for meeting the colleagues and friends who became fellow reporters and editors, and for those who have remained friends, competitors, and colleagues to this day.
What else did you learn at Harvard?
Harvard taught me confidence. When I came, I was the only person from my school that year to matriculate into Harvard. And it was intimidating. I remember over the years just thinking: if I can hold my own with these people in these classrooms, in these conversations, with all these people who are so driven and so ambitious, then whatever other challenges life is throwing at me, I’ve got this! I'm enormously grateful to Harvard for that.
What does it mean for you to be chosen as the featured speaker for Harvard Alumni Day?
It's an honor and a pleasure. And it’s also a little daunting because it feels different from being asked to be a Commencement speaker where you're addressing people who are just graduating and just heading out into the world. Who am I to address my classmates, much less the classes who have come before us? Maybe I have some life wisdom to offer because I've made my share of mistakes, and I'm happy to reflect on that. I'm looking forward to the challenge of figuring that out.
The other piece of this is my father, Jim Kelly, who was in the Class of 1968, would have been here for his 55th Reunion. We lost him during the pandemic. I’ll be addressing all classes—and I’m honored to do so—but I know that whatever I come up with, I’ll be speaking to him as well.
What was it like celebrating Reunion with your dad?
I grew up going to his Reunions and got to know some of his classmates. He always made a point of trying to seat me next to the people who had become journalists in his class because he knew what I wanted to do. It was an opportunity for me to meet people who had done amazing reporting and writing out in the world. I got to know their kids, some of whom became my classmates and are my friends today. He never missed a Reunion and neither have I. We did get to be together for the last round of Reunions, for his 50th and my 25th.
How did your dad react when you decided to follow in his footsteps to Harvard?
He was beyond thrilled. He had been on full scholarship and had come from a family that couldn't afford to pay anything toward tuition or room and board. It was life-changing for him to come out of a public school in Idaho in the 1960s and go on to Harvard and Harvard Law School. He was always trying to hold down part-time jobs to help pay for everything. It was a joy for our whole family to see that connection through the generations, to know how much change took place, and how much he wanted to pay it forward.
You’ve paid it forward. You are an active volunteer and donor. Why do you give back?
My father didn’t get to travel in the way that I've gotten to travel for my job. And before he died, I gave a gift in his honor to Harvard to help fund a travel fellowship for other students who were coming from backgrounds where they hadn't seen other parts of the world yet. That has meant a lot to our family to know that some future student out there would get to continue those opportunities that I've had.
What’s one of your favorite memories of Harvard?
I was just back visiting Harvard with my son who was in high school and were doing the rounds of college visits. I took him to see inside Lamont Library, which is not Harvard's most impressive library, but it's the one where I spent the most time. I just had a moment standing there, looking out this wall of windows toward those steps to Memorial Church. And I just remember sitting there so many mornings watching the Yard or seeing the snow come down out there. I would be wrestling some 19th-century French text to the ground and thinking how many students before me had sat in the library trying to tackle texts, probably sitting in the very same leather chair that I was sitting in and feeling very lucky to be there.
What does the Harvard community mean to you?
The Harvard community has an amazing ability to connect you. And those connections keep paying dividends across generations. This is one of the great blessings of my life. You're able to connect and build those relationships from your experience that have lasted a lifetime.