Professors Confident in New Provost

Though he hails from outside the University, faculty say they are confident that newly selected University Provost Alan M. Garber ’76 will smoothly transition into his new position this fall.

Garber’s interdisciplinary expertise in economics and medicine will be an asset as University President Drew G. Faust works to unify the University and develop Allston.

Harvard Law School Professor John C. P. Goldberg—who served on the Provost search committee—said that the committee weighed the pluses and minuses of selecting an “outsider.”

Though Garber received both his A.B. and Ph.D. from Harvard, he has been a member of the Stanford University faculty for 25 years.

Goldberg said there was some concern that an external candidate might not be “attuned to some aspects of Harvard culture and background, [which] might create some problems an insider wouldn’t experience.” But ultimately the committee felt that this concern was not serious in Garber’s case, Goldberg said.

Professor Joseph P. Newhouse ’63, who has known Garber since the mid 1980s, said that although “undoubtedly there will be some learning curve,” he does not believe that this challenge is specific to the transition of an external selection.

“There are lots of internal people who don’t know much about the University-at-large,” Newhouse said. “Harvard is a vast place. Any person would face a considerable learning curve.”

Dean of the Law School Martha L. Minow said she believes that his outsider status will be helpful to Harvard because he can bring insights and knowledge from Stanford.

“I think it is actually fantastic that he is an insider-outsider,” Minow said. “He has real, deep understanding about how another great University functions.”

In addition to integrating the University’s schools and encouraging interdisciplinary study, Garber said that Allston was a priority in an interview with The Crimson shortly after his selection.

Newhouse said he expects that Garber will be very involved in Allston development, but that he does not believe that this was the single most important factor in his selection.

“The fact that he complements her in that he knows science and medicine is more important than how his talents air on Allston,” Newhouse said. “It is his judgement, his integrity, and the chemistry between him and the president.”

Newhouse also added that the expertise and talents required for Allston are “somewhat diffuse” and could include a sense of design or knowledge of the environment, and that “potentially a lot of people would satisfy those requirements.”

Faculty said that Faust will dictate how she and Garber split responsibilities within the University. “I think he will play the role she wants him to play,” Newhouse said. “I think his top priority will be his relation to her.”

Goldberg said that he believes that Faust “will have to decide how best to make use of his skills and the office of the provost.”

Minow said that she believes that “a central goal” for Garber will be to assist in realizing President Drew G. Faust’s “wonderful vision of one University.”

However, she believes Faust will be more concerned with shaping the vision for the University, while Garber will have a more direct involvement in day-to-day activities at Harvard.

Minow called Garber a “true Renaissance man,” and said she believes his background in medicine and economics makes him the ideal person to bridge between the sciences and social sciences at Harvard.

Minow said she was impressed by Garber’s intellectual curiosity and interest in the humanities even though it is outside his direct area of academic work.

—Staff writer Zoe A. Y. Weinberg can be reached at zoe.weinberg@college.harvard.edu.