Herbert Claiborne Pell IV (born November 17, 1981) is an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solicito ...

military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

, and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He is a commander and

judge advocate Judge-advocates are military lawyers serving in different capacities in the military justice systems of different jurisdictions. Australia The Australian Army Legal Corps (AALC) consists of Regular and Reserve commissioned officers that provi ...

in the

United States Coast Guard Reserve The United States Coast Guard Reserve is the reserve component of the United States Coast Guard. It is organized, trained, administered, and supplied under the direction of the Commandant of the Coast Guard through the Assistant Commandant for ...

, and served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for International and Foreign Language Education in the

United States Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Departme ...

. He is the grandson of the late Senator

Claiborne Pell Claiborne de Borda Pell (November 22, 1918 – January 1, 2009) was an American politician and writer who served as a U.S. Senator from Rhode Island for six terms from 1961 to 1997. He was the sponsor of the 1972 bill that reformed the Basic ...

. Pell ran for the 2014 Democratic Party nomination for

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

of Rhode Island in a competitive three-way race ultimately won by Rhode Island State Treasurer

Gina Raimondo Gina Marie Raimondo (; born May 17, 1971) is an American politician, lawyer, and venture capitalist who has served as the 40th United States Secretary of Commerce since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the 75th ...

Early life and education

Pell was born to Herbert C. Pell III and Eugenia Stillman Diehl Pell on November 17, 1981, in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

. Pell is the grandson of Senator

and Nuala Pell (the granddaughter of A&P grocery chain founder

George Huntington Hartford George Huntington Hartford (September 5, 1833 – August 29, 1917) headed the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P) from 1878 to 1917. During this period, A&P created the concept of the chain grocery store and expanded into the country's ...

). Through his grandfather, he is a direct descendant of Wampage I, a

Siwanoy The Siwanoy () were an Indigenous American band of Wappinger people, who lived in Long Island Sound along the coasts of what are now The Bronx, Westchester County, New York, and Fairfield County, Connecticut. They were one of the western bands of ...

chieftain. Pell attended

The Thacher School The Thacher School is an elite private co-educational boarding school in Ojai, California. Founded in 1889 as a boys' school, it is now the oldest co-educational boarding school in California. Girls were first admitted in 1977. The first co-ed gra ...

and graduated in 2000. He also attended the School Year Abroad (SYA) in Zaragoza, Spain (1999) and

Beijing, China } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

(2001). He graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

in 2005 with high honors and a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six y ...

in Social Studies. Pell also received a Citation in

Modern Standard Arabic Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) or Modern Written Arabic (MWA), terms used mostly by linguists, is the variety of standardized, literary Arabic that developed in the Arab world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; occasionally, it also refe ...

from Harvard. Pell went on to graduate from

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

with a J.D. in 2008.Clay Pell confirms he may seek Democratic nomination for RI governor in 2014

Career

In 2009, Pell joined the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, multi ...

and graduated first in his class from the Coast Guard Direct Commission Officer School. He served on active duty as a judge advocate from 2009 to 2011. He currently is a commander and

in the

. Pell served as Director for Strategic Planning on the National Security Staff, and was a

White House Fellow The White House Fellows program is a federal fellowship program established via Executive Order by President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson in October 1964, based upon a suggestion from John W. Gardner, then the president of Carnegie Cor ...

from 2011 to 2012. In 2013, Pell served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Office of International and Foreign Language Education at the

. His support for language education and cultural proficiency was recognized by the Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages which presented him with its Advocacy Award in 2014—an award Pell's grandfather received in 1988. On January 27, 2014, Pell confirmed he would run for

Governor of Rhode Island The governor of Rhode Island is the head of government of the U.S. state of Rhode Island and serves as commander-in-chief of the state's Army National Guard and Air National Guard. The current governor is Democrat Dan McKee. In their capaci ...

in the 2014 election His then-wife,

Michelle Kwan Michelle Wingshan Kwan (born July 7, 1980) is a retired competitive figure skater and diplomat serving as United States Ambassador to Belize. In figure skating Kwan is a two-time Olympic medalist (silver in 1998, bronze in 2002), a five-time ...

, appeared in TV ads on his behalf to garner support among female voters before the September 9th, 2014 primary. Pell placed third in the Democratic primary, which was won by

. In 2016, Pell was elected as a presidential elector from Rhode Island and served as President of the Rhode Island Electoral College. In 2020, Stanford University awarded Pell the Sloan Fellowship at its Graduate School of Business.

Personal life

In January 2013, Pell married five-time

World champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

and two-time Olympic medalist

. The two first met in April 2011. In 2017, Pell announced in a statement that he had filed for divorce from Kwan. On February 2, 2021, Pell announced he had married his former high school classmate Youna Kim. Pell is a Christian. He speaks English, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, and Arabic.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pell, Clay American military lawyers Georgetown University Law Center alumni Harvard College alumni Living people Politicians from Providence, Rhode Island Politicians from Tucson, Arizona Rhode Island Democrats United States Coast Guard officers United States Department of Education officials 2016 United States presidential electors White House Fellows 1981 births The Thacher School alumni Lawyers from Tucson, Arizona Pell family