The Presidency, Pending

Feverish speculation notwithstanding, the Corporation did not use its regularly scheduled meeting with the Board of Overseers during the first...

Feverish speculation notwithstanding, the Corporation did not use its regularly scheduled meeting with the Board of Overseers during the first weekend in February to present the search committee’s selection for Harvard’s twenty-eighth president. Gossip had increased on January 31, when Nobel laureate Thomas R. Cech, president of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, called the Crimson to announce that he had “withdrawn my name from consideration” for the post. On Saturday night, February 3, the Lampoon broadcast an e-mail announcing “the reinstatement of Lawrence H. Summers as Harvard’s once and future president,” and then a follow-up, nominally from College dean Benedict H. Gross, declaring the first message a hoax and saying that Law School dean Elena Kagan had been chosen instead.

Update:
Historian Drew Gilpin Faust was named the twenty-eighth president of Harvard University on February 11.
See "Crossing Boundaries"

Whenever the appointment is made—before this issue of the magazine reaches you or after—complete coverage will appear at www.harvardmagazine.com.

Most popular

Two Years of Doxxing at Harvard

What happens when students are publicly named and shamed for their views?

A New Narrative of Civil Rights

Political philosopher Brandon Terry’s vision of racial progress

How MAGA Went Mainstream at Harvard

Trump, TikTok, and the pandemic are reshaping Gen Z politics.

Explore More From Current Issue

Illustration of college students running under a large red "MAGA" hat while others look on with some skeptisim.

How MAGA Went Mainstream at Harvard

Trump, TikTok, and the pandemic are reshaping Gen Z politics.

James Muller in white lab coat leaning on railing in hospital hallway.

Free Speech, the Bomb—And Donald Trump

A Harvard cardiologist on the unlikely alliances that shaped a global movement to prevent nuclear war

Julie Riew, wearing a white dress, playing guitar and singing into a microphone on stage.

Bringing Korean Stories to Life

Composer Julia Riew writes the musicals she needed to see.