The American Experience Distinguished Speaker Series
Restoring Civility: How to Advocate and Compromise; the Role of Partisan Politics
Senator Ben Cardin, Former three-term U.S. Senator from Maryland, following 20 years in the House of Representatives and 20 years in the Maryland House of Delegates, including eight years as Speaker.
Monday, October 6, 2025
4:30 - 5:30 p.m.
University Club | 123 University Place | Pittsburgh, PA 15260
*In-person attendance is encouraged, but a virtual option is available to select when registering.
Less than two years after he earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Pittsburgh, Ben Cardin launched what became an extraordinary career in government service when he was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates as a 23-year-old law student.
He served in the Maryland House for twenty years, including eight years as Speaker. He then was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he also served for twenty years, before being elected to the United States Senate for the first of three successive terms. Over that period of nearly six decades, he never lost any of his thirty-six primary and general elections. He chose not to run for reelection in 2024 and left the Senate in early January of this year.
Senator Cardin’s work had a significant impact in countless areas, and he is known as a human rights advocate, a leader in healthcare and retirement security, and a champion for clean water. Among many other accomplishments, he served as Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and takes pride in the passage of the Magnitsky Act, which allows the U.S. to impose financial and travel sanctions on foreign officials involved in human rights abuses or corruption, while he chaired that committee.
In 2011, Senator Cardin returned to Pitt to receive an honorary doctorate and to serve as commencement speaker. In a very well-received speech, he described how his Pitt experiences, including service as Student Government Board President, had helped prepare him for a life in public service and urged Pitt graduates not only to see the light but to be the light. In leaving the Senate, he expressed concern about the deep divisions in our country. His staff has described his own approach to his work as “Cardinesque” – a recognition that advocates can be passionate about issues and can fight to get things done without making it personal.
This special program will be hosted by Nicola Foote, Dean of the David C. Frederick Honors College, and Mark Nordenberg, Chancellor Emeritus and Director of the Dick Thornburgh Forum for Law & Public Policy.
Sponsored by: The Dick Thornburgh Forum for Law & Public Policy, David C. Frederick Honors College, Institute of Politics
