Mary W. Graham

Mary W. Graham
Board Member 2018 – Present

Mary W. Graham co-directs the Transparency Policy Project at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Her research focuses on the historic struggle between government openness and secrecy in the United States and the challenges of the digital age. Her most recent book, Presidents’ Secrets: The use and abuse of hidden power, tells the story of the founders’ vision of open government, the growth of uncontrolled secrecy during the Cold War, and the emerging elements of secrecy and openness in the digital age.

An earlier book, Full Disclosure: the perils and promise of transparency, helped inform the Obama administration’s openness policies. Graham is a trustee emeritus of the MacArthur Foundation, where she headed the institutional policy committee. She is a former trustee of the Pew Charitable Trusts and chair of the governance committee and the Juilliard School. A selective list of articles, reports, and working papers can be found at transparencypolicy.net/publications.