Decanal Duo

Kathleen McCartney Photograph by Dina Konovalovia/A Dream Picture Kathleen McCartney, Lesser professor in early childhood development...

Kathleen McCartney
Photograph by Dina Konovalovia/A Dream Picture

Kathleen McCartney, Lesser professor in early childhood development and since July 2005 acting dean of Harvard Graduate School of Education, was named to the deanship on May 16 by President Lawrence H. Summers. McCartney, who earned her Ph.D. in psychology from Yale, has focused on interactions among childcare, parenting, and poverty in her research. She joined the faculty in 2000 and served as academic dean during the 2004-2005 year. A more detailed profile will appear in a future issue.

Jeremy R. Knowles
Photograph by Jon Chase/Harvard News Office

Separately, interim president Derek Bok named Jeremy R. Knowles interim dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) after conferring with a 10-member faculty advisory committee and consulting junior professors and the graduate and undergraduate student councils. Knowles, Houghton professor of chemistry and biochemistry, was previously dean from 1991 until William C. Kirby took office in July 2002. In making the appointment on May 22, Bok said, “A term as interim dean does not allow the luxury of learning on the job, and no other individual rivals Jeremy in his experience of FAS affairs or his capacity to begin immediately to address important administrative issues while maintaining forward motion” on matters ranging from the undergraduate curriculum review to Allston planning. Knowles, reflecting on his and Bok’s second turns at their jobs, wrote to the FAS faculty and staff, “In the light of his own generous decision, it was, of course, impossible for me to look President Bok in the eye and say ‘No.’” He would have to discover, Knowles wrote, “where things stand (academically, financially, and in spirit),” and encouraged colleagues to let him know.

Most popular

The 1884 Cannibalism-at-Sea Case That Still Has Harvard Talking

The Queen v. Dudley and Stephens changed the course of legal history. Here’s why it’s been fodder for countless classroom debates.

An animal’s journey from grief to love shows how much humans need each other, too.

Telling Humanity’s Story through DNA

Geneticist David Reich rewrites the ancient human past.

Explore More From Current Issue

Portrait of a man in a denim shirt beside a blue book cover for "Gretal and the Great War" featuring an illustration of a leg holding an army helmet..

The Gretel and the Great War author on how the Lampoon derailed his science career—and set him on a literary path.

Smiling woman stands beside a large skull in a display cabinet.

From competing in youth gymnastics to studying tetrapods, the Harvard curator has always chased her curiosity.

Decorative wrought iron gate framed by leafy branches, captured in sepia tones.

Former Indiana University president Thomas Ehrlich looks back on curriculum, co-education, and other major trends.