Kurt Schmoke - Life After Politics

Life After Politics

Schmoke was selected with five other distinguished former collegiate student-athletes for a Silver Anniversary Award by the National Collegiate Athletic Association in 1996.

After leaving office in December 1999, Schmoke practiced law at the firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering in Baltimore.
In 2003, Schmoke was appointed the dean of the Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C. In 2004, Schmoke was appointed an honorary fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. He is also on the board of Global Rights, and a member of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. In 2008, Schmoke delivered the keynote lecture, “A New Hundred Years War? The Compelling Need to Reform National Drug Control Policy” for the Edward Bouchet Conference on Diversity in Graduate Education at Yale University.

He also appeared in two 2004 episodes of the acclaimed HBO series The Wire. The episodes, entitled "Middle Ground" and "Mission Accomplished", featured Schmoke in a bit part as a health commissioner. He acts as an advisor to the fictional mayor after a rogue police major has legalized drugs in a portion of the city. This is a reference to his own feelings on the drug war.

In July 2008 Kurt Schmoke became the acting Senior Vice President of Academic Matters at Howard University, a position that was previously held by Richard English, PhD, making him provost for the university. Schmoke will continue as Dean of the Howard University School of Law. It had been rumored that he was going to be named the new President, but he had denied the claim on several occasions. Schmoke also teaches election law as a seminar class every fall semester to third year law students.

In January 2009, Schmoke was seen holding an umbrella for Illinois Senate designee Roland Burris during an outdoor press conference concerning Burris' seating controversy. Schmoke was part of the legal team advising Burris during the controversy.