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President of Harvard University

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President of Harvard University
Incumbent
Alan Garber
since January 2, 2024 (2024-01-02)
AppointerHarvard Corporation
Formation1640 (1640)
First holderHenry Dunster
Websiteharvard.edu/president/

The president of Harvard University is the chief administrator of Harvard University and the ex officio president of the Harvard Corporation.[1] Each is appointed by and is responsible to the other members of that body, who delegate to the president the day-to-day running of the university.

Harvard's current president is Alan Garber, who took office on January 2, 2024, following the resignation of Claudine Gay. In August 2024, the Harvard Corporation announced he would be in the position until mid- 2027.[2]

Role

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The president plays an important part in university-wide planning and strategy. Each names a faculty's dean (and, since the foundation of the office in 1994, the university's provost), and grants tenure to recommended professors. However, the president is expected to make such decisions after extensive consultation with faculty members.

Recently, however, the job has become increasingly administrative, especially as fund-raising campaigns have taken on central importance in large institutions such as Harvard. Some have criticized this trend to the extent it has prevented the president from focusing on substantive issues in higher education.[3]

Each president is professor in some department of the university and teaches from time to time.

The university maintains an official residence for the president's use, which from 1912 until 1971, was President's House, and since then has been Elmwood.[4]

Influence

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Five Harvard University presidents, sitting in order of when they served. Left-to-right: Josiah Quincy III, Edward Everett, Jared Sparks, James Walker and Cornelius Conway Felton.

Harvard presidents have traditionally influenced educational practices nationwide. Charles W. Eliot, for example, originated America's familiar system of a smorgasbord of elective courses available to each student; James B. Conant worked to introduce standardized testing; Derek Bok and Neil L. Rudenstine argued for the continued importance of diversity in higher education.

History

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At Harvard's founding it was headed by a "schoolmaster", Nathaniel Eaton. In 1640, when Henry Dunster was brought in, he adopted the title of president. Since Harvard was founded for the training of Puritan clergy, and even though its mission was soon broadened, nearly all presidents through the end of the 18th century were in holy orders.

All presidents from Leonard Hoar in 1672 through Nathan Pusey in 1971 were graduates of Harvard College. Of the presidents since Pusey, nearly all earned a graduate degree at Harvard. The only exception has been Drew Gilpin Faust, who was the first president since the seventeenth century with no earned Harvard degree.

Presidents of Harvard

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No. Image Presidents Term of office Length Notes
– Nathaniel Eaton 1637–1639 2 years Referred to as "schoolmaster" of Harvard College
Fired for "embezzlement and beating students"[5]
1 Henry Dunster 1640–1654 14 years, 1 month and 27 days Forced to resign for speaking out against and interrupting infant baptisms[6]
2 Charles Chauncy 1654–1672 17 years, 3 months and 17 days Died in office[7]
3 Leonard Hoar 1672–1675 2 years, 3 months and 5 days Forced to resign[8]
4 Urian Oakes 1675–1680 (acting); 1680–1681 6 years, 3 months and 18 days (total);

4 years, 9 months and 26 days (acting); 1 year, 5 months and 23 days

Died in office[9][7]
5 John Rogers 1682–1684 2 years, 3 months and 2 days Died in office[10][11][7]
6 Increase Mather 1685–1686 (acting); 1686–1692 (rector); 1692–1701 16 years and 18 days (total); 1 year and 12 days (acting); 6 years and 4 days (rector); 9 years and 2 days Forced to resign[12][7]
– Samuel Willard 1701–1707 (acting) 6 years and 6 days Resigned due to illness[13]
7 John Leverett 1708–1724 16 years, 3 months and 19 days First lawyer to serve as president. Died in office.[7][14]
8 Benjamin Wadsworth 1725–1737 11 years, 8 months and 9 days Died in office[11][7]
9 Edward Holyoke 1737–1769 32 years At 79, the oldest president; died in office.[11][7]
– John Winthrop 1769 (acting) Declined presidency on a permanent basis on grounds of old age[1]
10 Samuel Locke 1770–1773 3 years, 6 months and 10 days Resigned after fathering a child out of wedlock[15][2]
– John Winthrop 1773–1774 (acting) Declined presidency again on a permanent basis on grounds of old age[3]
11 Samuel Langdon 1774–1780 6 years, 1 month and 12 days Students petitioned the Corporation to dismiss him and he resigned.[7][16]
– Edward Wigglesworth 1780–1781 (acting) [4]
12 Joseph Willard 1781–1804 23 years and 20 days Died in office[17]
– Eliphalet Pearson 1804–1806 (acting) Acting president after death of Willard
13 Samuel Webber 1806–1810 4 years, 2 months and 11 days Died in office[18]
– Henry Ware 1810 (acting) Served as acting president after Webber's death.[5]
14 John Thornton Kirkland 1810–1828 17 years, 4 months and 19 days Suffered a stroke, was accused of financial mismanagement by the Harvard Corporation, and resigned[6]
– Henry Ware 1828-1829 (acting) Served as acting president after the resignation of Kirkland[7]
15 Josiah Quincy III 1829–1845 16 years, 6 months and 29 days Retired[19]
16 Edward Everett 1846–1848 2 years, 11 months and 27 days Resigned due to dissatisfaction with the job.[20] Later became United States Secretary of State and United States Senator.
17 Jared Sparks 1849–1853 4 years and 9 days Resigned due to dissatisfaction with the job[21]
18 James Walker 1853–1860 6 years, 11 months and 16 days Resigned due to arthritis[22]
19 Cornelius Conway Felton 1860–1862 2 years and 10 days Died from a disease of the heart en route to Washington, D.C. for a meeting at the Smithsonian Institution[23]
– Andrew Preston Peabody 1862 (acting) Served as acting president after the death of Felton
20 Thomas Hill 1862–1868 5 years, 11 months and 24 days Resigned due to poor health[24]
– Andrew Preston Peabody 1868-1869 (acting) Served as acting president after the resignation of Hill due to illness[25]
21 Charles William Eliot 1869–1909 40 years, 2 months and 7 days[26] At 35, the youngest president.[27] Longest term of office (40 years).[28][29] For a portion of 1900-1901[30] and 1905, Henry Pickering Walcott served as acting president while Eliot was on vacation.
22 A. Lawrence Lowell 1909–1933 24 years, 1 month and 2 days Retired[31][32]
23 James B. Conant 1933–1953 19 years, 6 months and 22 days Retired to become Allied High Commissioner for Occupied Germany and later U.S. ambassador to Germany[33]
24 Nathan Pusey 1953–1971 18 years and 29 days "Pusey called in the Cambridge police to end a student sit-in" in 1969. "Sharply criticized for his handling of the situation, he announced in 1970 that he would retire the following year".[34][35]
25 Derek Bok 1971–1991 19 years, 11 months and 29 days[36] Henry Rosovsky served as acting president in 1984 and 1987 when Bok traveled and took brief sabbaticals.[37][38]
26 Neil Rudenstine 1991–2001[39] 9 years, 11 months and 29 days Provost Albert Carnesale served as acting president for three months, from November 1994 to February 1995, during Rudenstine's medical leave of absence.[40]
27 Lawrence Summers 2001–2006 4 years, 11 months and 29 days First Jewish president[41][42][43][44][45] Shortest tenure since Civil War. Resigned following several clashes with faculty resulting in a no-confidence vote.[46][47][48][49]
– Derek Bok 2006–2007 (interim) 11 months and 29 days Served as acting president after the resignation of Summers[50][7]
28 Drew Gilpin Faust 2007–2018 10 years, 11 months and 29 days First female president[7][51]
29 Lawrence Bacow 2018–2023 4 years, 11 months and 29 days Retired[7][52]
30 Claudine Gay 2023–2024 6 months and 1 day Shortest serving president; resigned following congressional hearings into antisemitism on campus and multiple allegations of plagiarism[53] First black president.[54]
31 Alan Garber 2024–Present 10 months and 14 days Appointed as interim president after Gay's resignation[55][56] Appointed permanently in August 2024 as 31st president until 2027, when Harvard will appoint a successor.[57]

Timeline of Harvard University presidential terms

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Presidents of Harvard University
Alan GarberClaudine GayLawrence BacowDrew Gilpin FaustDerek BokLawrence SummersNeil RudenstineNathan PuseyJames B. ConantA. Lawrence LowellCharles William EliotAndrew Preston PeabodyThomas HillCornelius Conway FeltonJames WalkerJared SparksEliphalet PearsonJosiah Quincy IIIHenry WareJohn Thornton KirklandSamuel WebberEliphalet PearsonJoseph WillardEdward WigglesworthSamuel LangdonJohn WinthropSamuel LockeEdward HolyokeBenjamin WadsworthJohn LeverettSamuel WillardIncrease MatherJohn RogersUrian OakesLeonard HoarCharles ChauncyHenry DunsterNathaniel Eaton

References

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  1. ^ Central Administration Archived November 23, 2011, at the Wayback Machine Governance of the University, from Office of the Provost
  2. ^ "Harvard Keeps Alan Garber as President Through Mid-2027". Bloomberg.com. August 2, 2024. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  3. ^ Lee, Richard S. (March 10, 2001). "An Empty Chair at Harvard (Op-Ed)". The New York Times. Retrieved October 17, 2007.
  4. ^ Graff, Garrett M.; Miller, Andrew J. (October 14, 2001). "33 Elmwood". The Harvard Crimson. ISSN 1932-4219. Archived from the original on June 21, 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  5. ^ John Harvard's Journal : Of Religious Education and Rotten Cabbage, The Harvard Magazine, Garrett M. Graff, September-October, 2002, Accessed March 18, 2024
  6. ^ "Harvard's First President – Et Seq: The Harvard Law School Library Blog". etseq.law.harvard.edu. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k President, Harvard University. "History of the Presidency". Harvard University President. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  8. ^ Mather, Cotton (1702). Magnalia Christi Americana: or, The ecclesiastical history of New-England, from its first planting in the year 1620. unto the year of Our Lord, 1698. In seven books ... John Adams Library at the Boston Public Library. London: Printed for Thomas Parkhurst, at the Bible and three crowns in Cheapside.
  9. ^ "Papers of Urian Oakes". Harvard Library. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  10. ^ "Harvard College Records Volume 15 Part 1". Colonial Society of Massachusetts. Archived from the original on September 7, 2023. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  11. ^ a b c "Harvard Presidents Throughout History". The Harvard Gazette. Harvard University. March 15, 2001. ISSN 0364-7692. Archived from the original on September 19, 2020. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  12. ^ "Biographical Notes on Increase Mather". Colonial Society of Massachusetts. Archived from the original on September 24, 2023. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  13. ^ "Resolution Relating to Samuel Willard and the College". Colonial Society of Massachusetts. Archived from the original on July 5, 2022. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  14. ^ "Papers of John Leverett, 1652-1730". Harvard Library. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  15. ^ Chase, Theodore (March 1980). "Harvard Student Disorders in 1770". The New England Quarterly. 61 (1): 30. doi:10.2307/365219. JSTOR 365219.
  16. ^ Proctor, Donald J. (December 1977). "John Hancock: New Soundings on an Old Barrel". The Journal of American History. 64 (3): 663–664. doi:10.2307/1887235. ISSN 0021-8723. JSTOR 1887235.
  17. ^ Harvard Corporation. "Corporation records volume 3, May 5, 1778-August 31, 1795". Harvard Library. p. 137. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  18. ^ "Papers of Samuel Webber". Harvard Library. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  19. ^ "Papers of Josiah Quincy, 1811-1874". Harvard Library. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  20. ^ "Papers of Edward Everett". Harvard Library. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  21. ^ "Papers of Jared Sparks, 1820-1861, 1866". Harvard Library. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  22. ^ "Papers of James Walker". Harvard Library. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  23. ^ "Papers of Cornelius Conway Felton, 1841-1877". Harvard Library. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  24. ^ "Papers of Thomas Hill". Harvard Library. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  25. ^ "Rev. Thomas Hill Dead. | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  26. ^ "Papers of Charles William Eliot, 1807-1945". Harvard Library. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  27. ^ "Charles W Eliot". National Park Service. February 11, 2022. Archived from the original on September 21, 2023. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  28. ^ "Charles William Eliot: A Paradoxical Racial Legacy". Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  29. ^ "Charles W. Eliot | Magazine | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  30. ^ "Dr. Walcott Acting President. | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  31. ^ "Lowell Harvard's Head.; New President of University Takes His Place at Dr. Eliot's Desk". The New York Times. May 20, 1909. p. 6. ISSN 0362-4331.
  32. ^ "Lowell's Passing Marks End of Era; Retirement of President of Harvard Comes After Twenty-four Years. His Incumbency Weighed Doubled the Enrolment, Increased Endowment and Expanded Buildings". The New York Times. June 25, 1933. pp. 1, 8. ISSN 0362-4331.
  33. ^ "James B. Conant Is Dead at 84; Harvard President for 20 Years". The New York Times. Associated Press. February 12, 1978. p. 1. ISSN 0362-4331.
  34. ^ "Nathan Pusey | Harvard President, Philanthropist, Educator | Britannica". www.britannica.com. November 10, 2023. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  35. ^ Fenton, John H. (June 2, 1953). "Harvard Elects Dr. N. M. Pusey, Midwest Educator, as President; Lawrence College Head, 46, Has 3 Degrees From University – Favors Humanities Study Harvard Appoints Iowan President". The New York Times. p. 1. ISSN 0362-4331.
  36. ^ Howe, Peter J. (November 10, 1984). "Bok's Past--and Future". The Harvard Crimson. ISSN 1932-4219. Archived from the original on January 3, 2024. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  37. ^ gazetteterrymurphy (November 16, 2022). "Henry Rosovsky, former acting University president, FAS dean, dead at 95". Harvard Gazette. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  38. ^ "Henry Rosovsky, Former Harvard FAS Dean, Remembered for Contributions to Undergrad Education and African American Studies | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  39. ^ "Rudenstine leaving presidency in 2001". The Harvard Gazette. The Harvard Gazette. May 25, 2000. ISSN 0364-7692. Archived from the original on August 28, 2020. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  40. ^ Butterfield, Fox (March 7, 1997). "Dismay at Harvard as Provost Decides to Move". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  41. ^ YUNews Director of the National Economic Council, Dr. Lawrence H. Summers, is Keynote Speaker at Yeshiva University's Annual Hanukkah Dinner and Convocation on December 13, November 18, 2009
  42. ^ The Harvard Crimson Harvard's First Jewish President, March 8, 2006
  43. ^ The Harvard Crimson Did Summers' Faith Affect His Fall?, March 3, 2006
  44. ^ The Harvard Crimson A Milestone of Faith, October 14, 2001
  45. ^ "Lawrence Summers". Jewish Virtual Library. Archived from the original on May 31, 2023. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  46. ^ Finder, Alan; Healy, Patrick D.; Zernike, Kate (February 22, 2006). "President of Harvard Resigns, Ending Stormy 5-Year Tenure". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  47. ^ "Summers Resigns: Shortest Term Since Civil War; Bok Will Be Interim Chief | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  48. ^ Golden, Daniel; Stecklow, Steve (February 22, 2006). "Facing War With His Faculty, Harvard's Summers Resigns". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  49. ^ Fogg, Piper (February 17, 2006). "Harvard President to Face Second Vote of No Confidence Amid Renewed Calls for His Resignation". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  50. ^ "Derek Bok". ethics.harvard.edu. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  51. ^ "First Female Harvard President Discusses Priorities and Goals". pbs.org. February 12, 2007. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
  52. ^ Hartocollis, Anemona (February 11, 2018). "Harvard Chooses Lawrence Bacow as Its Next President". The New York Times. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  53. ^ "Harvard President resigns after antisemitism hearing and plagiarism probe". Axios.com. Axios. January 2, 2024.
  54. ^ "Harvard names Claudine Gay 30th president". The Harvard Gazette. Harvard University. December 15, 2022. ISSN 0364-7692. Archived from the original on December 15, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  55. ^ Mangan, Dan (January 2, 2024). "Harvard University President Claudine Gay resigns amid plagiarism claims". CNBC. Archived from the original on January 2, 2024. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  56. ^ "Harvard President Claudine Gay steps down". The Harvard Gazette. Harvard University. ISSN 0364-7692. Archived from the original on January 2, 2024. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  57. ^ "Alan Garber '76 to Serve as Harvard's 31st President Until June 2027 | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
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