Associate Dean Who 'Pinch-Hit' for Transitioning OSL To Depart

Associate Dean of Student Life Kimberly A. Pacelli, the administrator who helped guide the Office of Student Life while it had no head, will leave Harvard on July 19 to become senior associate dean of student affairs at Bowdoin College.

During her nearly year-long tenure at Harvard, Pacelli had a hand in shepherding the College through a series of crises, including a major city power outage, a hurricane, a blizzard, and the Boston Marathon bombings and their aftermath.

Pacelli first came to Harvard to assume her post at the Office of Student Life in the fall of 2012. Much of Pacelli’s tenure was marked by the absence of a dean of student life, as the post was vacant from last August, when former interim dean Joshua G. McIntosh left Harvard for Johns Hopkins University, until March, when Stephen Lassonde took over the deanship.

In an email Monday announcing Pacelli’s departure to House Masters, resident deans, and college staff, Lassonde and outgoing Dean of the College Evelynn M. Hammonds praised Pacelli for “master[ing] an important and complicated position in the Office of Student Life."

As associate dean, Pacelli has advised the House Renewal project, Harvard’s ambitious plan to renovate its upperclassman Houses. She has also served as chair of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Safety Committee and has been involved in the emergency management team for the College.

“We're sad to lose her, because she's been such a terrific addition to this office, from what I understand, from the moment she arrived,” Lassonde said in a phone interview Tuesday.

Lassonde said he has been told by colleagues that Pacelli transitioned to Harvard especially quickly when she arrived in the fall. He said Pacelli was “pinch-hitting” while working at the OSL with Associate Dean of Student Life David R. Friedrich in the absence of a dean of student life.

“She really did a great job filling in there,” Lassonde said.

Lassonde added that in turn, Pacelli was “critical” to his transition to Harvard after he arrived in the spring from Brown, where he had previously served as its deputy dean of the college.

At Bowdoin, her alma mater, Pacelli will join the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs and lead a team of offices for student wellness, she wrote in an email. Prior to coming to Harvard, Pacelli had previously served as the director of residential life at the liberal arts college, which is located in Brunswick, Maine.

“Bowdoin is a place that is near to my heart,” Pacelli wrote. “My family and I have strong roots in Maine and we are excited to be returning.”

Reflecting on her time at the College, Pacelli wrote that she would miss “all the wonderful people that make Harvard such a special place.”

“I have truly appreciated the opportunity to take a leadership role in supporting Harvard's Houses, which are truly remarkable among college residential systems, and I know that colleagues at Bowdoin are looking forward to learning more about how things work here,” she wrote.

—Staff writer Madeline R. Conway can be reached at mconway@college.harvard.edu. Follow her on Twitter @MadelineRConway.