Jean Bordewich, Acting President of Guilford College

Greensboro and Guilford Thriving Together

We welcome Jean Parvin Bordewich, Acting President of Guilford College, as our upcoming speaker. A proud descendant of a long line of North Carolinians and Guilfordians, Jean’s deep ties to the area span over a century through her mother’s Quaker family. Her ancestors played a pivotal role in founding Cane Creek Meeting in the 1750s, and her childhood visits to Greensboro laid the foundation for her return to Guilford College after high school in Florida.

Jean’s professional journey began with a summer internship in Washington, D.C. for U.S. Congressman Richardson Preyer, which led to a distinguished two-decade career in politics, government, and philanthropy. She served as the staff director of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and was responsible for the 2013 Obama-Biden inauguration. She also helped launch the U.S. Democracy program at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and was a member of the 2022 Commission on the Continuity of Government.

In addition to her political career, Jean is a playwright and a 2024-2025 Visiting Fellow at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University. Her latest work, a play about the historic 1876 election, will be presented in a reading at the U.S. Senate on April 7.

Jean has also made her mark as an author, publishing articles, op-eds, and a children’s book in 2024, inspired by her mother’s Quaker family. Jean and her husband, historian and author Fergus M. Bordewich, reside in Washington, D.C., where Fergus’s work on the Underground Railroad connects to the history of Guilford County.

To Attend Virtually:  The Zoom link was  provided in the newsletter that was published on the Monday before this date.

To Attend as a Prospective Member or Guest: Click here for more information.