New Human Resources Chief Named

Marilyn Hausammann will assume the new position in charge of all the University’s human resource departments on Oct. 25, the University announced on Tuesday.

As vice president of human relations, Hausammann will oversee approximately 15,000 Harvard employees.

Hausammann arrives on the coattails of a University-wide labor policy change that has led to new expectations from labor unions and Harvard administrators.

Last July, the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW) scored a three-year contract with the University for its 4,800 members, including salary hikes, improved work security and increased benefits.

“She’s inheriting a very good labor situation,” said University Director of Labor Relations Bill Murphy.

HUCTW Director Bill Jaeger spoke cautiously, but positively about the choice of Hausammann.

“I think she’s a good choice from everything we know. During the search process I was impressed that a lot of her ideas matched up with what our members hoped for,” said Jaeger, who was a member of the search committee that selected Hausammann. “But it’s still very early.”

In addition to dealing with the University’s historically tense labor situation, Hausammann also faces the challenge of defining a position created only last year by University President Lawrence H. Summers.

Summers said he created the new post after Polly Price retired last year from her position as associate vice president of human resources. Unlike Price who reported to the vice president for administration, Hausammann will work directly under Summers.

“I think it’s overdue for the area of human resources and personnel to be something that receives senior level attention on a University-wide basis,” Summers said.

Murphy praised the creation of the more centralized position with control over all of Harvard’s human resources departments.

“I think this will have an outstanding impact on all of human resources to have a vice president. Marilyn is an excellent choice,” Murphy said.

But Emma S. Mackinnon ’05, member of the Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM), said that the centralization of human resources could be a negative change.

“Having the human resources head report directly to Summers gives him more control,” said Mackinnon, who is also a Crimson editor. “Summers has a really mixed record and sometimes an awful record of responding to workers’ concerns. So it’s worrying that he’ll have more direct control.”

Hausammann has an extensive background in human resources, although not in the arena of higher education. She has served as the director of human resources at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) since 2001, and prior to that as the senior vice president for human resources and communications at Thomson Financial.

Hausammann was unavailable for comment yesterday, but she told the Harvard Gazette she looks forward to joining Harvard.

“Together with my colleagues, I hope to shape an HR agenda that contributes to the mission and promotes the satisfaction and engagement of our workforce,” she told the Gazette.

—Stephen M. Marks contributed to the reporting of this story.