Setti David Warren, Newton’s 30th mayor, died unexpectedly on Sunday, November 2nd at the family’s Beaumont Avenue home. He was fifty-five years old. There has been no official determination of the cause of his death.
At the time of his death, Mr. Warren was the Director of the Institute of Politics and Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Before his appointment to the Institute of Politics, he was Executive Director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy. The Harvard Kennedy School said in a statement:
“Here at Harvard, Setti served as Director of the Institute of Politics and, before that, as Executive Director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy. In these roles, he will be remembered as a visionary and tireless leader who helped steer these institutions as they hosted prominent speakers and fellows from across the political divide, conducted groundbreaking research, and fostered debate and engagement on the most challenging issues of our time. Most of all, he will be remembered at Harvard by the many students he helped to teach, nurture, and mentor. Setti’s students loved him, and their impact –– like his –– will reverberate for generations to come.”
Mr. Warren served two terms as Mayor of Newton, first elected in 2009, the first African American mayor in Massachusetts. While in his first term, he briefly ran for Senate, but then withdrew in favor of Elizabeth Warren. Similarly, he entered the Governor’s race in 2017, but withdrew in 2018.
Even before his campaign for Mayor, Mr. Warren led a life of public service, working as New England Director of the Federal Office of Emergency Management and as deputy director of Senator John Kerry’s Boston office. Prior to his mayoral campaign, Mr. Warren, who was in the Naval Reserve, served in Iraq as a Naval Intelligence specialist.
A life-long Newton resident, Mr. Warren…