President of Harvard University

The President is the chief administrator of Harvard University. Ex officio the chairman of the Harvard Corporation, he is appointed by and is responsible to the other members of that body, who delegate to him the day-to-day running of the university.

Related Topics:
Administrator - Harvard University - Harvard Corporation

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Harvard is a famously decentralized university, noted for the "every tub on its own bottom" independence of its various constituent faculties. They set their own academic standards and manage their own budgets. The president, however, plays an important part in university-wide planning and strategy. He names each faculty's dean (and, since the foundation of the office circa 1990, the university's provost), and it is he who in the end grants tenure to recommended professors. (He is, however, expected to make such decisions after extensive consultation with faculty members.) In recent years the President has also become increasingly responsible for the conduction of fund-raising campaigns. The present holder of the office, Lawrence H. Summers, has sought to take a very active role in his first few years in office, which has won him a mix of praise (for perceived leadership) and criticism (for perceived heedlessness).

Related Topics:
Faculties - Dean - 1990 - Provost - Tenure - Lawrence H. Summers

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Although the job is increasingly administrative, each president is an academic professor in some faculty of the university and will at least occasionally teach courses. As the leaders, furthermore, of one of the U.S.'s most prominent universities, Harvard's presidents can sometimes find themselves in the national spotlight. Several have had significant influence on educational practice or contributed to national policy debates. Eliot, for example, originated America's familiar system of a smorgasbord of elective courses available to each student; Conant worked to introduce standardized testing; Bok and Rudenstine argued for the continued importance of diversity in higher education.

Related Topics:
Professor - U.S. - Eliot - Conant - Bok - Rudenstine

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~