Summers Picks Hyman as Provost

Steven E. Hyman, the director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and a former Harvard Medical School professor, will be named the University’s new provost this afternoon, pending the approval of the Harvard Corporation.

The University confirmed yesterday that Hyman’s selection would be presented to the Corporation today.

University President Lawrence H. Summers has chosen Hyman to fill a vacancy left in Harvard’s top ranks after Harvey V. Fineberg ’67 stepped down as provost in June.

The selection of Hyman from NIMH means that both Summers and now his deputy spent long periods away from Harvard prior to their appointments.

Currently Associate Provost Dennis F. Thompson has been filling the position of acting provost. Hyman said he hoped to assume his post as soon as six weeks from now.

“I see this as a very, very wonderful opportunity,” Hyman said. “I had a wonderful experience at NIMH applying science to pressing policy matters, but I missed interacting with students.”

Hyman first came to Harvard as a medical school student in 1976. In 1989 he became an assistant professor of psychiatry. Four years later he rose to become an associate professor. He was also director of research in the department of psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital.

The modern position of provost at Harvard was only created a decade ago by then-University President Neil L. Rudenstine. The position’s definition has been evolving ever since.

Summers has wide latitude to redefine the provost’s duties, but Hyman said that he and Summers have not made plans to radically change the position.

But Hyman also mentioned new areas that for the first time will be part of the provost’s portfolio.

Since assuming office, Summers has been vocal about science’s importance to the University, giving the subject a prominent mention in his Oct. 12 installation address.

A distinguished neuroscientist, Hyman said that he will focus on bringing about a reevaluation of undergraduate science education.

Hyman said he believes that even non-science concentrators need more basic scientific awareness—an initiative that he plans to join Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles in addressing.

“I’d very much like to...help the community make sure we’re not leaving some undergraduates in a less than ideal position in regards to understanding some of the most important intellectual developments,” Hyman said.

Hyman also said that his role as provost, like that of his predecessors, would focus on coordinating the University’s fiercely independent schools.

He said that Harvard needs to find interdisciplinary approaches to keep up with increasingly interconnected types of knowledge.

While at Harvard, Hyman was deeply involved in such interdisciplinary efforts. He served as the first faculty director of the Mind, Brain and Behavior Interdisciplinary Initiative—a program overseen by the provost’s office.

Hyman said that interfaculty collaboration was well on its way at Harvard when he left, but that he will continue to focus on its development.

The provost’s office could potentially be involved in a number of other University-wide issues, including the development of Harvard land in Allston. Summers has stressed that schools will have to work together to plan development of those properties.

However, one source suggested that Hyman was unlikely to be involved in physical planning.

The provost’s office currently has four assistant provosts. Summers has declined to say how this structure might change. There has been some speculation that the relationship between the provost and the university’s five vice presidents may be reconsidered.

Current and former Harvard administrators said they were delighted by Hyman’s appointment.

“Steve Hyman is a first-rate choice as provost,” Fineberg said of his successor. “He has proven leadership ability and understands how to bring the best out of people working together.”

Thompson agreed that Hyman was a “superb appointment.”

“[Hyman was] one of the most effective leaders we have seen in promoting interfaculty collaboration,” as the first director of the Mind, Brain, and Behavior program, he said.

Friends and colleagues said Hyman returns to Harvard an experienced administrator, well qualified to be Summers’ point person.

At NIMH, Hyman is responsible for coordinating scientists, policymakers, clinicians and fundraisers in running the nation’s biggest mental health institute. He oversees a budget of over $1 billion.

NIMH Deputy Director Richard K. Nakamura, who has worked closely with Hyman, described him as a “terrific” leader, and said that he was sad to see him go.

“He had the ability to make things happen,” Nakamura said.

Nakamura cited Hyman’s ability to effect change within the often-resistant U.S. government as a particular strength.

Nakamura described the institute’s loss as Harvard’s gain.

“He will want Harvard to be the absolutely the best university it can be, and will help the president in pushing an agenda of change,” he said. “He can talk in acronyms, but he can also interpret science and the ideas of academia to the general public.”

In recent weeks, Hyman stood in the national spotlight, with interviews about post-traumatic stress disorder and bioterrorism in The New York Times and other national media outlets in response to the events of Sept. 11.

Both of Summers’ major administrative appointments—the other being Columbia University’s Alan Stone, soon to be Harvard’s Vice President of Government, Community and Public Affairs—have had significant service in Washington.

—Daniel P. Mosteller contributed to the reporting of this story.

—Staff writer David H. Gellis can be reached at gellis@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Catherine E. Shoichet can be reached at shoichet@fas.harvard.edu.