About The Harkin Institute
The Harkin Institute for Public Policy & Citizen Engagement is a nonpartisan policy research institution focused on the four main policy areas that shaped Senator Tom Harkin’s career: people with disabilities, retirement security, wellness and nutrition.
Vision: A future where everyone has equal access to opportunity, well-being, and dignity.
Mission: The Harkin Institute advances inclusive, evidence-based public policy by connecting research, civic learning, and diverse lived experiences. We provide access to trusted information and empower robust civic engagement to promote the public good.
Legacy Statement: We are inspired by Tom and Ruth Harkin’s decades of public service. Their enduring legacy demonstrates that all of us are interconnected, bound together in a single circle of inclusion, with no one left out.
Senator Tom Harkin
Senator Tom Harkin represented Iowa in the United States Congress for more than four decades. He served Iowa’s 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1975 to 1985 and was a U.S. Senator from 1985 to 2015. Sen. Harkin’s legacy policy priorities have included federal farm policy, civil rights for Americans with disabilities, childhood nutrition and food access, healthcare access and reform, labor issues, and access to and improvement of education. He lives in the house where he was born in Cumming, Iowa.
To contact Senator Harkin, please contact The Harkin Institute at
harkininstitute@drake.edu or 515-271-3623.
Address: 2800 University Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50311
Phone: (515) 271-3623
Email: harkininstitute@drake.edu
Office Hours: Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.