Biden to receive lifetime achievement award from Edward M. Kennedy Institute in Boston
Updated: 12:59 PM EDT Oct 26, 2025
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Former President Joe Biden will be in Boston on Sunday to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Edward M. Kennedy Institute.Biden is scheduled to attend the event on Sunday at the institute’s Columbia Point building in Boston, where he will be honored alongside former Labor Secretary and Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh and retired U.S. Navy Admiral Lisa Franchetti. Walsh and Franchetti will both receive Awards for Inspired Leadership, the institute said in a statement.The awards will be presented during the Edward M. Kennedy Institute’s 10th Anniversary Celebration, which is the organization’s major annual fundraiser. Former Secretary of State John Kerry, who served with Joseph R. Biden Jr. in the Senate and led the State Department during Biden’s vice presidency, will serve as honorary chair of the event.”We believe that we can inspire new generations of leaders by highlighting the example of those who came before them, like Senator Ted Kennedy,” said Victoria Reggie Kennedy, Senator Kennedy’s widow and the co-founder of the Kennedy Institute. “President Biden, Secretary Walsh, and Admiral Franchetti are all such exemplary and inspiring leaders, dedicated to improving the lives of others in our community and throughout our country.”Biden served as a U.S. senator from Delaware from 1973 through 2009, when he became vice president under Barack Obama, serving until 2017. He won the presidency in 2020, defeating incumbent President Donald Trump, and decided not to seek reelection last year.Earlier this month, Biden started radiation and hormone therapies as part of his treatment for an aggressive form of prostate cancer.Video below: Doctor discusses Biden’s cancer”President Biden’s life has been one of honorable service to his country, and like the man for whom the Kennedy Institute is named, fought for the interests, and to better the lives, of all Americans from all socio-economic, cultural, and personal backgrounds,” Kennedy Institute Chairman Bruce A. Percelay said. “His tenacity and persistence – again, traits that echo those of Senator Ted Kennedy – are constant reminders to our current political leaders of the dedication and hard work required to do the people’s business in Washington.”Walsh, a Dorchester native who currently serves as executive director of the National Hockey League Players Association, was Biden’s first Secretary of Labor. He previously served as Boston’s mayor from 2014 to 2021 and in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1997 to 2013.Admiral Franchetti made history when President Biden selected her as the Navy’s chief of naval operations in 2023, becoming the first woman to hold that position and the first female member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Rochester, New York, native received her commission in 1985 and held several major commands, including the U.S. Sixth Fleet and two aircraft carrier strike groups, before her appointment.
Former President Joe Biden will be in Boston on Sunday to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Edward M. Kennedy Institute.
Biden is scheduled to attend the event on Sunday at the institute’s Columbia Point building in Boston, where he will be honored alongside former Labor Secretary and Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh and retired U.S. Navy Admiral Lisa Franchetti. Walsh and Franchetti will both receive Awards for Inspired Leadership, the institute said in a statement.
The awards will be presented during the Edward M. Kennedy Institute’s 10th Anniversary Celebration, which is the organization’s major annual fundraiser. Former Secretary of State John Kerry, who served with Joseph R. Biden Jr. in the Senate and led the State Department during Biden’s vice presidency, will serve as honorary chair of the event.
“We believe that we can inspire new generations of leaders by highlighting the example of those who came before them, like Senator Ted Kennedy,” said Victoria Reggie Kennedy, Senator Kennedy’s widow and the co-founder of the Kennedy Institute. “President Biden, Secretary Walsh, and Admiral Franchetti are all such exemplary and inspiring leaders, dedicated to improving the lives of others in our community and throughout our country.”
Biden served as a U.S. senator from Delaware from 1973 through 2009, when he became vice president under Barack Obama, serving until 2017. He won the presidency in 2020, defeating incumbent President Donald Trump, and decided not to seek reelection last year.
Earlier this month, Biden started radiation and hormone therapies as part of his treatment for an aggressive form of prostate cancer.
Video below: Doctor discusses Biden’s cancer
“President Biden’s life has been one of honorable service to his country, and like the man for whom the Kennedy Institute is named, fought for the interests, and to better the lives, of all Americans from all socio-economic, cultural, and personal backgrounds,” Kennedy Institute Chairman Bruce A. Percelay said. “His tenacity and persistence – again, traits that echo those of Senator Ted Kennedy – are constant reminders to our current political leaders of the dedication and hard work required to do the people’s business in Washington.”
Walsh, a Dorchester native who currently serves as executive director of the National Hockey League Players Association, was Biden’s first Secretary of Labor. He previously served as Boston’s mayor from 2014 to 2021 and in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1997 to 2013.
Admiral Franchetti made history when President Biden selected her as the Navy’s chief of naval operations in 2023, becoming the first woman to hold that position and the first female member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Rochester, New York, native received her commission in 1985 and held several major commands, including the U.S. Sixth Fleet and two aircraft carrier strike groups, before her appointment.
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