Vermont’s longest-serving U.S. senator is going back to school.
Former Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, who retired in January after nearly five decades in Congress, has been named a “president’s distinguished fellow” at the University of Vermont, the school announced Thursday in a press release.
In the role, Leahy will advise students and faculty and give guest lectures, as well as participate in research and other projects that were started thanks to his efforts while in the Senate, UVM said. Leahy will also be “a conduit between the university and organizations and communities in all corners of the state,” according to the release.
The position is unpaid, and Leahy started this week, a UVM spokesperson said.
“My career, my family, and my most proud moments are all centered here, in Vermont,” Leahy, who was born in Montpelier, said in the press release. “What better place to continue my work for Vermont than on this great university’s campus?”
Leahy was known for securing outsize amounts of federal funding for Vermont during his Senate tenure, and he’s raked in millions of dollars for UVM in recent years.
In 2022, Leahy secured $9.3 million of congressionally directed spending to establish UVM’s Institute for Rural Partnerships, which is slated to open this summer and study issues including broadband access, clean water and housing in small towns. In 2021, the senator secured $11 million to support the UVM Food Systems Research Center; in 2019, he secured $6.6 million to help create the school’s Center on Rural Addiction.
UVM established a scholarship fund in 2019 in the names of Leahy and his wife, Marcelle. The school has a Lake Champlain research boat that bears Marcelle’s name, too.
Asked if he thinks Leahy’s new role will help UVM continue to access funding and other resources now that the senator is no longer in office, Ron Umbra, chair of the school’s board of trustees, was blunt: “without question.”
“Reputation matters,” he said. “Senator Leahy has such an esteemed reputation, and our ability to incorporate him into the university is completely synergistic with our strategy of excellence.”
The university is also set to house Leahy’s official Senate records. According to a late February job posting, UVM plans to hire three archivists to “arrange and describe the papers of Senator Patrick J. Leahy.” The records contain more than 20 terabytes of data, including many of the photos that Leahy famously snapped during his tenure.
The school plans to digitize the collection and make it available online, according to the job posting, as well as conduct an oral history project with Leahy and his staff.
In the press release, UVM president Suresh Garimella praised the former senator’s support for the university over the years.
“We are so very fortunate that he will share his experience and wisdom with our students, faculty, and staff in his new role,” Garimella said.
