Gross Away After Surgery

Following abdominal surgery last week to remove a buildup of scar tissue, Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71 will be on leave for the next several weeks.

Gross said he will be out through the end of next week, and plans to work from home the week after that. He said he expects to return in time for Commencement exercises and plans to attend the last Faculty meeting of the year on May 17.

His absence leaves Deputy Dean of the College Patricia O’Brien as the highest ranking official in the College administration.

O’Brien, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences William C. Kirby, and University President Lawrence H. Summers have divided up responsibility for Gross’ duties during his absence.

According to Gross, after he began experiencing stomach pain last Tuesday evening, he checked himself into University Health Services.

“I felt stomach pain and I thought,‘oh, don’t worry about it,’ but it got very intense,” Gross said yesterday.

Although he initially thought that a patch previously installed on his femoral artery had ruptured, a buildup of scar tissue was responsible for the pain, Gross said.

O’Brien said that the associate deans will also step up in Gross’ absence.

“Each associate dean is responsible for a different area of the College,” she said. “We’re pretty close to what’s going on and can cover for him.”

While Gross has not been in University Hall this past week, he has kept in constant contact with his staff.

“He’s not physically present, but in any other way, he’s guiding us,” O’Brien said.

During Gross’ absence, O’Brien will also act as the sole chair of the Administrative Board, over which she and Gross usually preside.

In light of his hospitalization, the monthly “Breakfast with the Dean,” slated for last Friday, was cancelled.

Gross, who is also Leverett Professor of Mathematics, will continue to rely on Jy-Ying J. Chen, a Ph.D candidate in the mathematics department and teaching fellow, to shoulder his teaching duties.

According to Mathematics Department Chair and Higgins Professor of Mathematics Joseph D. Harris, Chen is teaching Gross’ class, Mathematics 123, “Abstract Algebra II: Theory of Rings and Fields,” in the interim.

While some students say that Gross’ class hasn’t changed during his absence, attendance has dropped, according to Varun K. Narendra ’07, who is in the class.

“I haven’t been to lecture since his absence,” Alexander P. Ellis ’07 said. “Our TF who took up the lecture is very good, but Dean Gross is an exceptional lecturer, probably the best I’ve had since I’ve been at Harvard.”

“Of course it would be better if he was teaching,” Narendra said. “But we’ve sort of dealt with it pretty well.”

Professor of Mathematics Noam D. Elkies said that Gross is recovering as well as can be expected.

For now though, Gross said he’ll turn to a stricter diet.

“We’ll have healthier snacks at the U-Hall,” he quipped.

—Rebecca D. O’Brien contributed to the reporting of this story.

—Staff writer Margaret W. Ho can be reached at mwho@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Joshua P. Rogers can be reached at jprogers@fas.harvard.edu.