Co-Founder and Chairman, Boston Global Forum
Former Governor of Massachusetts and 1988 Democratic Nominee for President of the United States
Michael Stanley Dukakis is Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors and Board of Thinkers of the Boston Global Forum (BGF), and Chairman Emeritus of the Michael Dukakis Institute for Leadership and Innovation. A former three-term Governor of Massachusetts and the 1988 Democratic nominee for President of the United States, Governor Dukakis has devoted more than half a century to public service, political leadership, education, and the cultivation of young leaders.
Together with Nguyen Anh Tuan, Governor Dukakis has built the Boston Global Forum into a globally recognized think tank dedicated to developing peaceful and innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges, including global security, cybersecurity, AI governance, democratic values, and responsible technology.
Governor Dukakis is Co-Founder of the AI World Society Initiative, the World Leader for Peace and Security Award, and the World Leader in AIWS Award. Together with Nguyen Anh Tuan, he also established December 12 as Global Cybersecurity Day. He co-authored the Concepts of AI-Government, the Ethics Code of Conduct for Cyber Peace and Security, and the BGF-G7 Summit Initiative Report.
In 2026, Governor Dukakis co-authored with Nguyen Anh Tuan the book America at 250: A Beacon for the AI Age, a visionary work honoring the 250th anniversary of the United States and presenting a roadmap for America’s leadership in the AI Age through trust, responsibility, democratic innovation, and human-centered technology.
Governor Dukakis’s public service began in Brookline, Massachusetts, where he was elected Town Meeting Member. He later served four terms in the Massachusetts Legislature before being elected Governor in 1974. After returning to office in 1982, he was reelected to an unprecedented third four-year term in 1986, when his fellow governors in the National Governors’ Association voted him the most effective governor in the nation.
In 1988, Governor Dukakis became the Democratic nominee for President of the United States. After leaving office, he continued his public service through teaching, civic leadership, transportation advocacy, and health policy reform. He served as a Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Northeastern University and as a Visiting Professor at the School of Public Policy at UCLA. He also served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Amtrak.
Governor Dukakis is a graduate of Brookline High School, Swarthmore College, and Harvard Law School. He served in the United States Army, including with the support group to the United Nations delegation of the Military Armistice Commission in Korea. He and his wife, Kitty Dukakis, have three children and eight grandchildren.