Pew Charitable Trust Senior Advisor for Government Relations

Tamera Luzzatto

Delivers Inaugural Theodore J. Van Der Meid Lecture in American Politics

The lectureship was endowed by a gift from Ted Van Der Meid C’79 who passed away in 2018.

From receptionists to storied politicians to elevator operators, Ted Van Der Meid C’79 was the type of person who befriended all during his rich and varied career on Capitol Hill, Tamera Luzzatto expressed during her speech to the North Park community on April 5.

“Ted was a generous person who, when he found out he didn’t have much time left, gave away all the gifts he’d gathered on his international travels,” said Luzzatto, a onetime chief of staff to then-Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton who sat on the opposite side of the political aisle from Van Der Meid.

Despite their political differences, she and

Van Der Meid maintained a decades-long friendship, in large part because of his ability to get along with almost everyone, Luzzatto said.

Upon his death in 2018, Van Der Meid included in his estate, gifts to fund the annual lectureship, a gift to benefit the School of Nursing, and two endowed scholarships, the Virginia Ferris Van Der Meid Scholarship in Nursing to honor his mother, and the Theodore J. Van Der Meid Scholarship in Politics and Government. His sister Ginny Newberg C’76 played a key role in finalizing donations from his estate as well as sharing some of his art that now hangs in Sohlberg Hall.

During his long career in Washington, D.C., Van Der Meid worked in various capacities for several Republican U.S. Congressmen and women, eventually serving under the speaker of the house. He is widely credited with forging consensus between both sides of the aisle to bring the Capitol Hill Visitor’s Center to fruition.

In her remarks, Luzzatto noted that Van Der Meid’s legacy for bridging the divide is needed more than ever in today’s fractured political environment as each side struggles to find common ground.

“The more the public sees their officials fighting, that is increasing their distrust in government and decreasing citizen engagement,” Luzzatto said. “We are not doing what we studied in Philadelphia, when the Constitution and the basic foundations of our country were worked out, and even as each side fought viciously, they walked away with a handshake.”