The country’s oldest and most revered university just named its first Black leader.
Harvard University, an institution whose history dates back to 1636, is tapping Claudine Gay as its next president, the Boston Globe reported. Gay, who is currently dean of Harvard’s faculty of arts and scientists, will take over from Larry Bacow in 2023.
Harvard naming a Black woman as president is sure to have an impact far beyond academia, because of the school’s reputation, high profile, and enormous financial means and because that institution’s history is deeply linked with slavery and other systemic manifestations of racism. Harvard has graduated eight presidents of the United States, including Barack Obama, George H.W. Bush, and John F. Kennedy. The school has the largest reported endowment in the world, at $51.9 billion, giving it the ability to support research and other activities on a global scale. Harvard’s president doesn’t unilaterally allocate or manage those funds but the institution’s leader does have some sway. Read more.
