Huma Abedin, New York Times bestselling author and current chief of staff to Hillary Clinton, will be visiting Cornell virtually to speak to the community about her new memoir and her experiences in politics at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Mar. 22.
Titled “Both/And: A Life in Many Worlds – A Conversation with Huma Abedin,” the event will be hosted by Cornell’s Institute of Politics and Global Affairs. The discussion will be moderated by Chris Riback, co-founder of Good Guys Media Ventures, and Basil Smikle ‘93, political commentator and lecturer at Columbia University.
The University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics held a similar talk in November of last year. The event was moderated by Zeenat Rahman, who previously served as a special advisor for the U.S. Department of State and currently works at the University of Chicago as the executive director of the school’s Institute of Politics.
At the event, Abedin spoke about her upbringing as the daughter of two immigrant parents, her political career as a woman and the inspiration behind publishing her memoir.
Abedin was born in Kalamazoo, Mich., and was raised in Saudi Arabia. She returned to the United States for college where she attended The George Washington University and earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism.
Since graduating, Abedin has spent most of her career working for 2016 Democratic nominee and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Abedine started her political career as an intern in First Lady Hillary Clinton’s office in 1996 and continued working for the White House for four years. Abedin later worked as senior advisor to Clinton during her years as a senator for New York state and was later appointed deputy chief of staff at the U.S. Department of State in 2009. During the 2016 presidential election, Abedin served as vice chairperson for Clinton’s presidential campaign.
As Clinton’s right-hand political staffer for 25 years, Abedin formed a deep relationship with Clinton, who she views as mentor, confidante and role model, according to her memoir.
At the upcoming IPGA event, Abedin will also discuss her recent New York Times bestselling memoir, “Both/And: A Life in Many Words”, which was recently published on Nov. 2, 2021.
The event will be held in fully virtual capacities. Those wishing to attend the event can register online for free at www.events.cornell.edu.
Correction, March 15, 2:34 p.m.: The initial version of this article misstated the event would be moderated by Steve Israel. It will be moderated by Basil Smikle.