University Snags Historian Ferguson

Noted international historian and author Niall Ferguson will leave the business school of New York University (NYU) to join Harvard’s history department after next year, ending several years of courtship by the University.

In addition to teaching history to graduate and undergraduate students, Ferguson said he will teach at least one course at Harvard Business School. A spokesperson for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) said Ferguson would officially become a member of Harvard’s faculty in July 2004 and teach his first courses in the spring 2005 semester.

In recent years, Ferguson has penned acclaimed works on the Rothschild banking dynasty and World War I. His recent bestselling book, Empire, was accompanied by a hit show on British television. With hundreds of press mentions in the last six months, he has become a veritable celebrity.

Ferguson has taught financial history to MBA students at NYU’s Stern School for the past two years and will continue to teach at Stern in the upcoming academic year. He previously taught at Oxford University.

Ferguson wrote in an e-mail that his time at NYU had been “a very successful experiment,” but that “in the end I couldn’t resist the allure of one of the best History departments in the world.”

His history courses may include a class on “the political economy of the world wars,” Ferguson said, and he will begin by teaching “Business and Government in the International Economy” at the business school.

In straddling the two campuses, Ferguson will indulge one of his most renowned traits—an enthusiasm for interdisciplinary connections.

“The kind of history that interests me is located where politics, business and economics meet,” he said. “And of all the business schools in the world, [Harvard Business School] must be the most historically minded. So it makes sense to cross the bridge—literally and metaphorically.”

Former Stern School Acting Chair Richard E. Sylla ’62 said that even within a single field, Ferguson is a versatile master, simultaneously “a meticulous historian” and “a great synthesizer.”

“He’s able to survey a vast amount of information and see how it fits together,” Sylla said.

FAS Dean William C. Kirby echoed this praise in a statement, saying Ferguson “argues big subjects with spirit, reason and evidentiary force.”

University President Lawrence H. Summers said in a statement that “we are coming to see the past differently because of Ferguson’s challenging reinterpretation.”

Sylla called Ferguson a dynamic teacher, citing his sense of humor and frequent use of cutting-edge technology in his lectures.

“The courses he offered here were very popular,” Sylla said.

And Sylla said such features had made Ferguson a hot commodity—one which he said Harvard had pursued for several years.

When Ferguson was being wooed to join an American university for the 2000-2001 academic year, Sylla said there were three major contenders: Harvard, NYU and the University of Pennsylvania.

“We acted a little more quickly,” Sylla said. “I knew...that he was talking to Harvard, but I guess he decided to come here. I understand that Harvard kept on talking to him.”

Ferguson described his talks with Harvard as “an evolving process over the past two years” that “has only crystallized recently.”

He said other schools had simultaneously wooed him as Harvard made its appeal, but did not name them.

And though he had nothing but kind words for NYU, calling it “a wonderful introduction to American academic life,” Ferguson said he thought his new academic home would ultimately be a better choice than either NYU or Oxford.

“I have no doubt that Harvard will combine the best of both worlds,” he said.

—Patrick Kuo contributed to the reporting of this story.

—Staff writer Simon W. Vozick-Levinson can be reached at vozick@fas.harvard.edu.