Interim FAS Dean Assumes Host of Duties

When she worked in Massachusetts Hall last year, Catherine Gorodentsev found it difficult to walk from her office to the Science Center in under ten minutes. But Gorodentsev—now the acting Dean for Administration in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences—welcomed the distractions.

“I bump into ten people along the way who will say, ‘Oh, by the way...’” said Gorodentsev in an interview yesterday. “If you’re not walking around, you’re not bumping into people. You’re not hearing the valuable word on the street. You’re not feeling the vibe of the place.”

This managerial perspective has proved critical in her transition from the central administration to FAS. With her extensive administrative experience in various hubs throughout Harvard, Gorodentsev said she emphasizes on-the-ground communication to ensure that information not only flows from top administrators to departments, but also the other way around.

“Cathy’s advantage is that people trust her implicitly and immediately,” said University Professor Gary King, who heads the Institute for Quantitative Social Science, where Gorodentsev once served as executive director. “That makes it easier for her to figure out what they are about and develop different organizational structures, reporting lines, or communication strategies to solve the problem.”

NOT JUST KEEPING THE SEAT WARM

Prior to her July appointment as interim dean, Gorodentsev served as chief of staff to former Executive Vice President Edward C. Forst ’82, who left in August. Gorodentsev—who has worked at the University for more than ten years—is “no stranger to Harvard,” as FAS Dean Michael D. Smith wrote in an e-mailed statement to faculty and staff.

“I don’t consider myself an academic,” said Gorodentsev, who has served in administrative posts in the controller’s office and the finance office of Harvard Kennedy School. “I’m a professional administrator.”

As interim dean of administration, Gorodentsev has been charged with overseeing FAS units including human resources, information technology, and research administration. She also works with the directors of the FAS finance office and physical resources office.

“I came into the role not wanting to keep the seat warm,” Gorodentsev said. “Rather, I pretended that I was the permanent person because I really wanted to get as much done as I could.”

According to Gorodentsev, the individual who will take her position on a permanent basis will be named the dean for administration and finance, the post previously held by Brett C. Sweet.

Gorodentsev, an avid long-distance runner who wakes up at 5:05 most mornings for her regular runs, believes in taking on the full marathon if she’s even going to try.

‘A UTILITY PLAYER’

At a recent meeting for department administrators, FAS officials said they were interviewing candidates “who would be committed to Harvard and hopefully wouldn’t leave—you know—so soon” to fill vacant deanships, said Classics Department administrator Teresa Wu.

After less than a year on the job, former FAS Dean of Administration and Finance Brett C. Sweet left Harvard for a top post at Vanderbilt University in late July, prompting Smith to start a national search for a replacement. Deena Giancotti, associate dean for finance, has temporarily taken over the finance-related responsibilities that typically fell under Sweet’s purview, according to Gorodentsev.

Gorodentsev herself was in a state of transition. With Forst slated to leave for Goldman Sachs, she said she decided against remaining in the role of chief of staff—after all, Forst had selected her for the position, and she wanted the incoming executive vice president to do the same. She said, “I didn’t think it made much sense for me to stick around and wait, and say, ‘Would this work or not?’”

Gorodentsev’s vocational limbo came at an opportune moment for Sweet. When Gorodentsev asked the finance guru how she could assist him in light of his impending departure, Sweet’s answer was prompt: “He said, ‘Well, actually, there is something you can do.’” Gorodentsev recalled.

Late July, she was appointed acting FAS dean for administration—essentially taking on the more managerial facet of Sweet’s previous post. In addition, Gorodentsev has been entrusted with the responsibilities of Lawrence M. Levine—the associate dean for information technology and chief information officer—until an appointment is made to replace him.

The University urgently needed a competent individual to fill the vacancies—and Gorodentsev, with her broad administrative scope and interpersonal strengths, fit the bill, according to King.

“She’s a utility player. She can do almost anything you throw at her,” King said. “The number of people who could just jump into a job like that and hit the ground running is really small.”

Smith declined to comment on whether Gorodentsev is under consideration for a permanent position as dean of administration and finance or any other post within FAS.

“I have no idea whether she’s being considered for other positions, but I certainly hope so,” said Stephen M. Kosslyn, FAS’ dean of social science. “She’s very strategic, very smart, and very practical—and that’s quite a combination.”

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

Though Gorodentsev said she would love to continue working at Harvard, one of her greatest passions lies beyond the Yard.

She previously served as the administrative director for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief at the School of Public Health, a program that delivers antiretroviral treatment to millions of HIV-positive individuals.

Though Gorodentsev worked chiefly for Africa in the PEPFAR program, her interests abroad have not been confined to that continent.

While working for the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation in the mid-1990s, Gorodentsev—who has a Russian husband and studied Russian—helped privatize small retail stores in Russia and eventually collective and state farms.

“We were these 20-something kids running around Russia, hired only because we were relatively bright and fearless and had the Russian skills,” Gorodentsev said.

Gorodentsev said she hopes to eventually return to a managerial post that allows her to oversee projects abroad.

“I think at the right time at my life—which is code for when my kids go to college—I will go back and do that,” she said.

—Staff writer Bonnie J. Kavoussi can be reached at kavoussi@fas.harvard.edu.

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