President of Harvard University: Difference between revisions
Psycharpax (talk | contribs) Added information and fixed some previous errors. |
Psycharpax (talk | contribs) Added information and fixed some previous errors. |
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|1708–1724 |
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|First lawyer and jurist<ref>{{Cite web |title=Papers of John Leverett, 1652-1730 |url=https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/repositories/4/resources/4298 |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=[[Harvard Library]]}}</ref> |
|First lawyer and jurist to serve as president.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Papers of John Leverett, 1652-1730 |url=https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/repositories/4/resources/4298 |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=[[Harvard Library]]}}</ref> |
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|[[Edward Holyoke]] |
|[[Edward Holyoke]] |
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|1737–1769 |
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|{{time interval|1737|1769}} |
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|At 79, the oldest president.<ref name=":2" /> |
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|[[Samuel Locke (educator)|Samuel Locke]] |
|[[Samuel Locke (educator)|Samuel Locke]] |
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|1770–1773 |
|1770–1773 |
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|{{time interval|1770-05-21|1773-12-01}} |
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|<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chase |first=Theodore |date=March 1980 |title=Harvard Student Disorders in 1770 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/365219 |journal=[[The New England Quarterly]] |volume=61 |issue=1 |page=30 |doi=10.2307/365219 |via=[[JSTOR]]}}</ref> |
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|[[Samuel Langdon]] |
|[[Samuel Langdon]] |
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|1774–1780 |
|1774–1780 |
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|{{time interval|1774-07-18|1780-08-30}} |
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|<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Proctor |first=Donald J. |date=December 1977 |title=John Hancock: New Soundings on an Old Barrel |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1887235 |journal=[[The Journal of American History]] |volume=64 |issue=3 |pages=663-664 |doi=10.2307/1887235 |issn=0021-8723 |via=[[JSTOR]]}}</ref> |
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Revision as of 01:11, 3 January 2024
President of Harvard University | |
---|---|
since January 2, 2024 | |
Appointer | Harvard Corporation |
Formation | 1640 |
First holder | Henry Dunster |
Website | Office of the 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 interim president is Alan Garber, having become interim president on January 2, 2024, following the resignation of Claudine Gay.
Role
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.[2]
Each president is professor in some department of the university and teaches from time to time.
Influence
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
At Harvard's founding it was headed by a "schoolmaster," Nathaniel Eaton. In 1640, when Henry Dunster was brought in, he adopted the title 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
No. | Image | Presidents | Term of office | Length | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
– | Nathaniel Eaton | 1637–1639 | 2 years | Referred to as "schoolmaster" of Harvard College | |
1 | Henry Dunster | 1640–1654 | 14 years, 1 month and 27 days | ||
2 | Charles Chauncy | 1654–1672 | 17 years, 3 months and 17 days | ||
3 | Leonard Hoar | 1672–1675 | 2 years, 3 months and 5 days | ||
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 |
[3] | |
5 | John Rogers | 1682–1684 | 2 years, 3 months and 2 days | [4][5] | |
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 | [6] | |
– | Samuel Willard | 1701–1707 (acting) | 6 years and 6 days | [7] | |
7 | John Leverett | 1708–1724 | 16 years, 3 months and 19 days | First lawyer and jurist to serve as president.[8] | |
8 | Benjamin Wadsworth | 1725–1737 | 11 years, 8 months and 9 days | [5] | |
9 | Edward Holyoke | 1737–1769 | 32 years | At 79, the oldest president.[5] | |
– | 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 | [9] | |
– | John Winthrop | 1773–1774 (acting) | Declined presidency on a permanent basis on grounds of old age.[2] | ||
11 | Samuel Langdon | 1774–1780 | 6 years, 1 month and 12 days | [10] | |
– | Edward Wigglesworth | 1780–1781 (acting) | [3] | ||
12 | Joseph Willard | 1781–1804 | |||
– | Eliphalet Pearson | 1804–1806 (acting) | |||
13 | Samuel Webber | 1806–1810 | 4 years, 2 months and 11 days | [11] | |
– | Henry Ware | 1810 (acting) | Served as acting president after Webber's death.[4] | ||
14 | John Thornton Kirkland | 1810–1828 | |||
– | Henry Ware | 1828-1829 (acting) | Served as acting president after the resignation of Kirkland.[5] | ||
15 | Josiah Quincy | 1829–1845 | 16 years, 6 months and 29 days | [12] | |
16 | Edward Everett | 1846–1848 | 2 years, 11 months and 27 days | [13] | |
17 | Jared Sparks | 1849–1853 | |||
18 | James Walker | 1853–1860 | |||
19 | Cornelius Conway Felton | 1860–1862 | |||
– | Andrew Preston Peabody | 1862 (acting) | Served in acting capacity after the death of Felton. | ||
20 | Thomas Hill | 1862–1868 | |||
– | Andrew Preston Peabody | 1868-1869 (acting) | Served in acting capacity after resignation of Hill due to illness.[14] | ||
21 | Charles William Eliot | 1869–1909 | Longest term of office (40 years).[15][16] For a portion of 1900-1901[17] and 1905, Henry Pickering Walcott served as acting president while Eliot was on vacation. | ||
22 | A. Lawrence Lowell | 1909–1933 | |||
23 | James B. Conant | 1933–1953 | |||
24 | Nathan Pusey | 1953–1971 | |||
25 | Derek Bok | 1971–1991 | Henry Rosovsky served as acting president in 1984 and 1987 when Bok traveled took brief sabbaticals.[18][19] | ||
26 | Neil Rudenstine | 1991–2001[20] | 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.[21] | |
27 | Lawrence Summers | 2001–2006 | 4 years, 11 months and 29 days | First Jewish president[22][23][24][25][26] | |
– | Derek Bok | 2006–2007 (interim) | 11 months and 29 days | [27][28] | |
28 | Drew Gilpin Faust | 2007–2018 | 10 years, 11 months and 29 days | First female president[28][29] | |
29 | Lawrence Bacow | 2018–2023 | 4 years, 11 months and 29 days | [28][30] | |
30 | Claudine Gay | 2023–2024 | 6 months and 1 day | First black president[31] | |
– | Alan Garber | 2024– (interim) | 8 months and 12 days | [32][33] |
References
- ^ Central Administration Archived November 23, 2011, at the Wayback Machine Governance of the University, from Office of the Provost
- ^ Lee, Richard S. (March 10, 2001). "An Empty Chair at Harvard (Op-Ed)". The New York Times. Retrieved October 17, 2007.
- ^ "Papers of Urian Oakes". Harvard Library. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
- ^ "Harvard College Records Volume 15 Part 1". Colonial Society of Massachusetts. Archived from the original on September 7, 2023. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Biographical Notes on Increase Mather". Colonial Society of Massachusetts. Archived from the original on September 24, 2023. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
- ^ "Resolution Relating to Samuel Willard and the College". Colonial Society of Massachusetts. Archived from the original on July 5, 2022. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
- ^ "Papers of John Leverett, 1652-1730". Harvard Library. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
- ^ Chase, Theodore (March 1980). "Harvard Student Disorders in 1770". The New England Quarterly. 61 (1): 30. doi:10.2307/365219 – via JSTOR.
- ^ 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 – via JSTOR.
- ^ "Papers of Samuel Webber". Harvard Library. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
- ^ "Papers of Josiah Quincy, 1811-1874". Harvard Library. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
- ^ "Papers of Edward Everett". Harvard Library. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
- ^ "Rev. Thomas Hill Dead. | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
- ^ "Charles William Eliot: A Paradoxical Racial Legacy". Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
- ^ "Charles W. Eliot | Magazine | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
- ^ "Dr. Walcott Acting President. | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
- ^ gazetteterrymurphy (November 16, 2022). "Henry Rosovsky, former acting University president, FAS dean, dead at 95". Harvard Gazette. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Butterfield, Fox (March 7, 1997). "Dismay at Harvard as Provost Decides to Move". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
- ^ 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
- ^ The Harvard Crimson Harvard’s First Jewish President, March 8, 2006
- ^ The Harvard Crimson Did Summers’ Faith Affect His Fall?, March 3, 2006
- ^ The Harvard Crimson A Milestone of Faith, October 14, 2001
- ^ "Lawrence Summers". Jewish Virtual Library. Archived from the original on May 31, 2023. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
- ^ "Derek Bok". ethics.harvard.edu. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
- ^ a b c "History of the Presidency". Harvard University. Archived from the original on January 2, 2024. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
- ^ "First Female Harvard President Discusses Priorities and Goals". pbs.org. February 12, 2007. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
- ^ Hartocollis, Anemona (February 11, 2018). "Harvard Chooses Lawrence Bacow as Its Next President". The New York Times. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ 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.