Political strategist David Plouffe, chief campaign manager for Barack Obama's historic presidential run, will be the keynote speaker at Cornell's Convocation in Schoellkopf Stadium at noon, May 23, the day before Commencement.

Plouffe

"The Class of 2009 sought an individual who has had a profound impact on the society that our class has been prepared to enter," said C.J. Slicklen '09, 2009 Convocation chair. "Mr. Plouffe was the mastermind behind one of the most significant and groundbreaking elections in our nation's history."

Plouffe (pronounced Pluff), a partner in the campaign consulting firm AKPD Message and Media, is credited with the campaign's successful overall strategy in the race for the Democratic Party presidential nomination by prolonging the primary past Super Tuesday and then masterminding the Democratic presidential campaign.

After winning the election on Nov. 4, Obama credited Plouffe in his acceptance speech, calling him "the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the ... best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America."

Plouffe is working on a book about the 2008 presidential election to be published by Viking Press in the fall. He began his political career when he went to work for Iowa's Tom Harkin in his 1990 re-election campaign for the U.S. Senate. He subsequently managed election campaigns for governors and congressional senators and representatives. In 1999-2000, Plouffe led the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to raise a record $95 million for House of Representatives races across the country. He began working with Obama on his 2004 campaign for the Illinois Senate.

Cornell's Commencement ceremony will take place May 24 in Schoellkopf Stadium at 11 a.m.

Convocation, which is funded by the Student Activity Fee, is under the supervision of the Office of the Dean of Students and the Senior Class Council.

For more information, contact Slicklen at cjs75@cornell.edu.