Claudine Gay Named Harvard University’s First Black President – MadameNoire
Source: Boston Globe / Getty
Dr. Claudine Gay will serve as Harvard’s 30th president, according to news announced Dec. 15.
In addition to being the Ivy League institution’s first president of color, Gay is the second woman ever to be appointed to the role.
Born to Haitian immigrants, Gay is a leading scholar whose expertise spans various topics, including politics, race and more.
The educator received her Ph.D in government from Harvard in 1998 and has enriched the university with years of dedication toward collaborative and inclusive academic excellence.
Gay’s served as Harvard’s Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences since 2018.
She began working at the university in 2006 as a government professor and became an educator of African and African American Studies the following year.
The university appointed her as a Wilbur A. Cowett Professor of Government in 2015 and she served as Dean of Social Science from then until 2018.
Gay’s also closely worked with Harvard’s outgoing president, Lawrence S. Bacow, for the past five years.
“Claudine is a person of bedrock integrity,” said Bacow. “She will provide Harvard with the strong moral compass necessary to lead this great university. The search committee has made an inspired choice for our 30th president. Under Claudine Gay’s leadership, Harvard’s future is very bright.”
The Harvard Corporation, the university’s main governing board, and the institution’s Board of Overseers were at the helm of Gay’s election.
The academic leader’s presidency at the university will begin in July 2023.
Claudine Gay On Harvard’s Future
Gay believes that in a world of “remarkable and accelerating change,” Harvard’s “long history of rising to meet new challenges” will help the institution leap forward.
“With the strength of this extraordinary institution behind us, we enter a moment of possibility, one that calls for deeper collaboration across the university, across all of our remarkable schools. There is an urgency for Harvard to be engaged with the world and to bring bold, brave, pioneering thinking to our greatest challenges,” she stated. “As I start my tenure, there’s so much more for me to discover about this institution that I love, and I’m looking forward to doing just that, with our whole community.”
Read more about Gay via The Harvard Gazette.
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