Former FBI Director James Comey will teach a course on ethical leadership for the College of William & Mary.
Comey graduated from the public university in Williamsburg, Va., in 1982 with a double major in chemistry and religion.
The former FBI chief will be co-teaching the three-credit course with Drew Stelljes, executive assistant professor of education and assistant vice president for student leadership, during fall 2018, spring 2019, and summer 2019 semesters.
The course will meet primarily at the William & Mary Washington Center in Washington, and then once at the William & Mary School of Education in Williamsburg, which will be live-streamed back to students in the nation’s capital.
“Jim Comey is among William & Mary’s most distinguished alumni,” said school President Taylor Reveley. “He understands to the core of his being that our leaders must have an abiding commitment to ethical behavior and sacrificial service if we are to have good government. Our students will benefit significantly from his experience and wisdom.”
Comey served as the head of the FBI from 2013 until his abrupt dismissal by President Trump last May at the beginning of an agency investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. Many Republicans accused Comey of helping to make sure Hillary Clinton didn’t get charged for using a private email server while she was secretary of state, and many Democrats say Comey ruined Clinton’s chance of becoming president by describing the status of that investigation just days before the election.
Comey said he’s “thrilled” about the opportunity at his alma mater.
“Ethical leaders lead by seeing above the short term, above the urgent or the partisan, and with a higher loyalty to lasting values, most importantly the truth. Building and maintaining that kind of leadership, in both the private sector and government, is the challenge of our time,” he said in a statement.
