Charles Royer

Charles Theodore Royer (August 22, 1939 – July 26, 2024) was an American news reporter and politician who served as the 48th mayor of Seattle, Washington from 1978 to 1990. After serving as mayor of Seattle, Royer became the director of the Harvard Institute of Politics.

Early life and career Royer was born in Medford, Oregon on August 22, 1939. Royer was discharged from the Army in 1963. He enrolled at the University of Oregon and majored in journalism and worked part-time at KEZI-TV in Eugene, Oregon, alongside his younger brother Bob, and later KVAL-TV. Royer briefly worked on the East Coast and was a visiting associate at the Harvard-MIT Joint Center for Urban Studies from 1969 to 1970. He received an award from the American Political Science Association for distinguished public affairs reporting in 1969. The election was eventually won by Republican former governor Daniel J. Evans.

In 1989, Business Month named Seattle as one of the best-managed cities in the nation.

Directorship at Harvard In 1990, Royer succeeded Richard Thornburgh as director of the Harvard Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. Democratic National Committee member Ronald H. Brown of the IOP's senior advisory committee stated, "Mayor Royer believes that people make the real difference in politics, and in bringing the people of his city together, he has been one of the most innovative and artful city executives in the nation."

From 1995 to 2006, Royer served as director of the National Program Office for the Urban Health Initiative, which is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. UHI worked closely with five United States cities (Baltimore, Detroit, Oakland, Philadelphia, and Richmond, Virginia) to help improve the health and safety of children living in those areas.

Later life and death In 2005, he founded the non-profit Institute for Community Change to continue guiding work at the national level aimed at improving community health.

Royer's son, Jordan, ran unsuccessfully for Seattle City Council in 2009.

Royer died at his home in Gearhart, Oregon, on July 26, 2024, at the age of 84.