Finance Administrator Gates Pursues Other Projects

Former associate dean of Harvard College for administration and finance John F. Gates resigned this past May to pursue personal ambitions that had been waylaid during his tenure as dean.

“All is well with me and my relationship with Harvard,” assured Gates, who had been a key player in the financial planning of the largest school within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. “This was, for me, an important transition time.”

For almost the past decade, Gates had been working on his Ph.D. at the University of London. In the latter stages of the last academic year, Gates said he realized that “the clock [was] running out” and that he would need “some concentrated time” to devote his full attention to his degree.

Gates has also been appointed a Senior Fellow for Global Higher Education at the Jamestown Project, a non-profit think tank based in Washington, D.C.

“My expertise in institutional change management and governance stands to help many colleges and universities with their efforts to be self-managing learning organizations and to thrive in this era of uncertainty,” said Gates, a former assistant provost at New York University for three years.

“[I]t was a difficult decision to arrive at because I so loved working with student groups,” said Gates, who was involved with the Black Men’s Forum. “After four years as associate dean of the College, Crimson is in my blood, and I will always cherish it.”

In 2005, Gates left his position as senior adviser to the president and the provost of the University of Vermont to take the post of associate dean of Harvard College. Gates replaced Georgene B. Herschbach—currently the College’s dean for administration—and assumed responsibility for managing a wide range of administrative sectors, including finance, human resources, information technology, facilities, and operations.

Gates’ post, which was especially critical during a time marked by severe financial constraints and substantial budget cuts, has been claimed by assistant dean of the College and director of budgets and finance Patricia B. Harrington, according to an administrator, who requested that they not be named to preserve relations with the University.

The individual said that Harrington is now directing the department of administration and finance, which recently reduced its staff from seven people to four. Harrington could not be reached for comment yesterday.

—Staff writer Esther I. Yi can be reached at estheryi@fas.harvard.edu.