Providence Country Day is proud to be the host school of the Chafee Leadership Forum, an annual program, which honors the late Senator John Chafee and PCD’s commitment to leadership and public service.  After John Chafee retired from the U.S. Senate in 1999, he enthusiastically agreed to help launch this ambitious new program to support the development of engaged citizenship at Rhode Island’s high schools.  Following his untimely death, the Chafee family continued to endorse the program to fulfill the late senator’s vision.

The John H. Chafee Leadership Forum at PCD is a fitting memorial to the man and his commitment to promoting leadership, service to community, and civility in public discourse and behavior.

Senator Bob Kerry (D-NE) was the first recipient of the John H. Chafee Leadership Award and a guest speaker at the inaugural event in 2000, which was not only a memorable tribute to Senator Chafee, but was also successful in raising the initial endowment necessary to support future events.  

Each year the Forum brings state and national leaders to Rhode Island to work with students from PCD and other Rhode Island schools discussing policies and issues of current relevance.  Promoting participation in the electoral process during election years and supporting community service initiatives are permanent themes of the Chafee Leadership Forum, in order to foster a culture of active involvement and giving.

2000	Bob Kerry (D-NE) is first Chafee Forum speaker.  He honors the late Senator John Chafee at the Biltmore Hotel in Providence.
	Seven PCD students travel to New Hampshire in February for the primaries and visit with Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Bradley.
2001	First Chafee event hosted at PCD. Jeff Pine, Republican Attorney General, speaks about his successful prosecution of Republican Governor Edward DiPrete.
2002	Warren Rudman speaks at PCD about his work as a policy advisor to Bush and Clinton and his foreign affairs experience. 10 Rhode Island schools attend the Forum (School One, RI School for the Deaf, Central High, East Providence High, Exeter-West Greenwich High, Classical, Portsmouth High, Warwick Veterans Memorial, and Mt. Hope High).
	PCD hosts a debate between Patrick Kennedy and Dave Rogers, both running for Rhode Island’s 1st congressional district.
	Don Carcieri and Myrth York speak in the Spring.
2003	Chris Hill speaks at PCD about his time as U.S. ambassador to Poland, nation-building, the Dayton Peach Accords, and lessons learned from the Balkans.
2004	Representatives from the Defense Institute for International Legal Studies (DIILS) speak at PCD.  Students from EP, Lincoln, and Portsmouth hear U.S Army Col. Paul Holden and his team discuss their time in Iraq training Iraqi judges, prosecutors, and trial attorneys.  Their work there helped prepare Iraqis for the trial of Saddam Hussein and others.
	PCD hosts a second debate between Patrick Kennedy and Dave Rogers, who again, are battling for the 1st congressional district of RI.
2006	Jim Brady speaks at PCD about his time in the Korea War fighting under John Chafee's command.
2007	Bill Twaddell, PCD class of 1959, speaks at PCD about his time as ambassador to Nigeria and his U.S. foreign policy experience that led him there.
2008	Lincoln Chafee speaks at PCD about leadership, government, the presidential election, and bi-partisanship.
	16 PCD students attend the New Hampshire primary, participate in rallies and hear the candidates speak.
2009	Jack Reed speaks at PCD about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
2010	Judge Bruce Selya speaks about the case of mob informant Peter Limone.
	PCD hosts a speaking forum with David Cicilline and John Loughlin, who are running for the 1st congressional district of RI. Click here to read more.

• Navy SEAL from 1966-69 (Vietnam War)
• Governor of Nebraska (1983-87)
• Senator from Nebraska (1989-2001)
• President of the New School in New York City (2001 - 2011)  
• Head of the Motion Picture Association of America (as of May 2010)

• Graduated from Moses Brown (72), Haverford College (76), and National Law Center at George Washington University (79)
• Attorney General of Rhode Island (elected in 1992 and 1994)
• Successfully prosecuted Republican Governor Edward DiPrete on 18 felony counts of racketeering, extortion, and bribery
• Started his own firm in 1999 (Jeffrey B. Pine, PC) in Providence 

• Graduated from Syracuse University, Boston College Law School (1960)
• Served in the Army during the Korean War
• Attorney General of NH 1970-76
• U.S Senator from New Hampshire 1980-93
• Chairman of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board under Clinton (1993-2001)
• Co-chair of the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century which called for a Department of Homeland Security in March 2001, prior to 9/11
• Chairman / Vice Chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee
• Became a partner in 1993 at the law firm Paul Weiss in New York City
• Considered one of the most informed policy advisors to Bush and Clinton

• Graduated from Moses Brown in ’70 and Bowdoin in ‘74
• Spoke about the Dayton Peace Accords, which ended the Bosnian War
• After Bowdoin, he joined the Peace Corps and was stationed in Cameroon (1974-76)
• Received Master’s Degree from the Naval War College in (‘94)
• Was the secretary for economic affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul (1983-85)
• Was the current Ambassador to Poland when he spoke (2000-04)
• Was the former U.S Ambassador to Macedonia (1996-99)
• Ambassador to Iraq

• Author of The Coldest War
• Served in Korean War as a Marine under Chafee (1951-52)
• After the war,  he became a Washington and foreign correspondent, wrote his two books, and contributed to magazines
• Died at age 80 of a stroke in January 2009

• Graduated from Brown (‘63)
• Chief of mission in Mozambique, Nambia, and Guina-Bissau
• Deputy Chief of Mission in Bamako, Mali
• Former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Liberia, Islamic Republic of Mauritania
• Retired in 2000

• Graduated from Brown
• Son of the late John Chafee
• Warwick Mayor (1992-98)
• Became a U.S. Senator after John Chafee’s death in 1999
• Elected to a 6-year senatorial position in 2000
• Unsuccessfully ran for re-election in 2006, and left the Republican Party to be an Independent candidate in 2007
• Was a “distinguished visiting fellow” at Brown University’s Thomas J. Watson Jr. Institute for International Studies (2007-09)
• Elected Governor of RI in November 2010.

Bruce Selya 

• Graduated Harvard Law School ('58)
• Rhode Island delegate to the Republican National Conventions (1968, 1972 and 1980)
• Served on the First Circuit US Court of Appeals 
• Longest serving Rhode Island judge 
• Over 1300 published opinions