Faust Takes Harvard's Helm

Drew G. Faust officially took office as the 28th president of Harvard University on Sunday, becoming the first female to lead the University in its 371-year history.

Faust, the former dean of the Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study, will be formally installed as the University's president on Oct. 12 in an outdoor ceremony in Tercentenary Theatre. While the fall inauguration ceremonies are usually full of pomp and circumstance—the new president receives ancient symbols of office including two silver keys, two seals of the University, the earliest college record book, and the Harvard Charter of 1650—Sunday's official changing of the guard passed with little fanfare.

Since her appointment in February, Faust has spent her time learning the ropes of a large, decentralized University, and has already directed a number of staff appointments, wasting no time putting her stamp on the University's administration.

But even as Faust settles into Mass. Hall's first-floor corner office, several important offices across the University lack permanent leadership. Faust must still fill the newly created executive vice president position and only on Monday named Robert B. Cashion '81 the acting vice president for alumni affairs and development to oversee the University's fundraising efforts. She must also find permanent leaders for Harvard Medical School, the Graduate School of Design, and Radcliffe, which are all currently being led by interim deans.

While appointing interim deans may provide Faust with time and flexibility as she settles in, they may also impede her ability to move forward on major initiatives.

Faust will have to begin planning for a University-wide capital campaign that was put on hold during the stormy tenure of Lawrence H. Summers. Faust said in an interview with The Crimson this spring that Harvard needs "to undertake a planning process of academic planning in all the schools that would provide the foundation for a campaign"—a task in which deans play an essential role. Without permanent leaders to oversee the process at their respective schools, academic planning could be put off for another year, delaying the capital campaign further.

Faust has largely remained mum on her presidential priorities, but she has said that she will consider restructuring the administration of Harvard's flagship school, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, in light of concerns that some of the top-tier positions have become too demanding. She also plans to launch an initiative to examine the place of the arts at Harvard.

As president, Faust will move from Greenleaf House, the Radcliffe dean's residence on Brattle Street, to Elmwood, the official residence of Harvard's president near Mt. Auburn Cemetery. Elmwood was vacant this past year after Derek C. Bok, the first Harvard president to inhabit the yellow Georgian mansion, chose instead to live in his Cambridge apartment.

Bok, Harvard's president from 1971 to 1991, ended his one-year term as interim president on Saturday. The 77-year-old kicked off his retirement by jetting to Europe.

After stopping in Greece, where Bok's wife, Sissela, gave a speech on Saturday at the American University in Athens, the two will visit various cities, including Paris, where they first met while he was studying as a Fulbright scholar.

After their summer holiday, Bok and his wife will split their time between their East Cambridge apartment and their Florida residence, where Bok, the author of six books, will continue his writings on higher education.

Addressing the University for the last time as president at Commencement exercises in June, Bok emphasized the important but changing role that universities play.

"Universities matter more to society today than ever before," Bok said, according to a transcript of his remarks. "And what Harvard does is especially important since we now possess the greatest collection of exceptional students, talented faculty and financial resources of any university on earth."

—Staff writer Claire M. Guehenno can be reached at guehenno@fas.harvard.edu.
—Staff writer Laurence H. M. Holland can be reached at lholland@fas.harvard.edu.