INFORMATION FOR
Michael Steele, a political analyst for MS NOW, former chair of the Republican National Committee, and a member of the Lincoln Project, will speak at William Paterson University in Wayne on Friday, November 20, 2026 as part of the Distinguished Lecturer Series.
The event, titled “A Moderated Conversation with Michael Steele,” begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Shea Center for Performing Arts on campus. Dr. Wartyna Davis, dean of William Paterson’s College of the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences and a professor of political science, will serve as moderator.
When he was elected Lt. Governor of Maryland in 2003, Michael Steele made history as the first African American elected to statewide office. He made history again with his subsequent chairmanship of the Republican National Committee (RNC) in 2009.
As chairman of the RNC, Steele was charged with revitalizing the Republican Party. A self-described “Lincoln Republican,” under Steele’s leadership the RNC broke fundraising records, with over $198 million raised during the 2010 Congressional cycle, and Republicans won 63 House seats, the biggest pickup since 1938. His commitment to grassroots organization and party building at the state and local levels produced 12 governorships and the greatest share of state legislative seats since 1928 (over 760 seats). He is currently a senior advisor for the Lincoln Project, a bipartisan coalition built in opposition to Donald Trump.
As Lt. Governor of Maryland, Mr. Steele’s priorities included reforming the state’s Minority Business Enterprise program, improving the quality of Maryland's public education system (he championed the state’s historic charter school law), expanding economic development in the state, and fostering cooperation between government and faith-based organizations to help those in need.
Steele’s ability as a communicator and commentator has been showcased through his current role as a political analyst for MS NOW (formerly MSNBC). He has appeared on Meet the Press, Face the Nation, HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, and Comedy Central's The Daily Show. In addition to his work in television, Steele co-hosted the daily radio program Steele & Ungar on the POTUS Channel on SiriusXM and is the host of the podcast The Michael Steele Podcast.
His writings on law, business, and politics have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Hill.com, The Grio.com, Politico.com, The Root.com, BET.com, Townhall.com, The Journal of International Security Affairs, and Catholic University Law Review, among others.
Steele is the author of Right Now: A 12-Step Program for Defeating the Obama Agenda, which is a call to arms for grassroots America, and co-author of The Recovering Politician’s Twelve Step Program to Survive Crisis.
Born at Andrews Air Force Base in Prince George’s County, Maryland, Steele was raised in Washington, DC. Upon graduating Johns Hopkins University in 1981, he entered the Order of St. Augustine and studied for the priesthood. He is a 1991 graduate of Georgetown Law Center, an Aspen Institute Rodel Fellow in Public Leadership, a University of Chicago Institute of Politics Fellow, and a current Senior Fellow at Brown University’s Institute for International and Public Affairs.
William Paterson University’s Distinguished Lecturer Series is in its 44th season of bringing leading personalities from the worlds of politics, government, the arts, literature, sports, science, and business, along with original programs, to the University’s campus in Wayne. In the four-decade history of the series, more than 175 public figures, including British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, journalist and activist Gloria Steinem, composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, actor and playwright Anna Deveare Smith, former New York Yankee and musician Bernie Williams, and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, have made presentations to 100,000 audience members.
Tickets range from $48 to $73. To purchase tickets or for more information, please contact William Paterson University’s Shea Center Box Office at boxoffice@wpunj.edu, call 973.720.2371 or visit www.wp-presents.org.
