University People

Edward C. Forst ’82 has been named Harvard’s first executive vice president, effective September 1.

EVP

Edward C. Forst ’82 has been named Harvard’s first executive vice president, effective September 1. As the “principal ranking operating officer” at the University, he will oversee financial, administrative, and human-resources functions (each run by a vice president) and administrative information technology. The new position relieves somewhat the administrative pressures on the president and provost, to whom seven vice presidents and 11 deans, among others, now report. Forst, a Goldman Sachs partner since 1998, was most recently global head of investment management (and now becomes a board member at Harvard Management Company, which invests the endowment); previously, he served as chief administrative officer at Goldman Sachs. He has been actively involved in his College class’s reunions and gift commitee.

 

Diversity Development

Conant professor of education Judith D. Singer, former academic dean and acting dean at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, has been appointed the University’s senior vice provost for faculty development and diversity. In that role, Singer, known for developing quantitative methods of social-science research, will oversee and monitor faculty-appointment processes; review junior-faculty appointments; administer University funds used to appoint scholars who make the faculty more diverse; and gather data and report on the status of these efforts (see www.faculty.harvard.edu). She succeeds Evelynn Hammonds, who became dean of Harvard College in June.

 

Communications Chief

Christine Heenan, founder and president of Clarendon Group, a Providence, Rhode Island-based public and government relations firm, will become Harvard’s new vice president for government, community, and public affairs, effective October 1. She succeeds Alan J. Stone.

Heenan, who holds a B.S. in journalism from Boston University, was a business strategy consultant. She then entered government, serving on the Domestic Policy Council staff during the first term of the Clinton administration, focusing on health and women’s issues and writing speeches. She had communications roles at the 1996 and 2000 Democratic national conventions, and was subsequently director of community and government relations at Brown University and Brown Medical School. She founded Clarendon Group in 2000. Her Harvard portfolio extends from Boston’s review of Allston plans and congressional concern over university endowments to news-media matters.

Related topics

You might also like

Harvard Football: Harvard 41, Brown 7

The Crimson assertively avenge last year’s loss to their Ivy rival.

What Happens When Infections Stop Responding to Antibiotics?

Harvard Medical School experts discuss the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance.

Green AI: Hype or Hope?

An expert panel explores AI’s climate impact, from emissions to water use.

Most popular

Trump Says a Deal with Harvard Is Close

Administration squeezes Harvard finances, and a federal judge blasts deportation efforts as unconstitutional.

At Harvard, Mike Pence Discusses Democracy and Conservatism

The former vice president denounces political violence, expresses hope for a deal between Trump and the University.

Harvard Art Historian Jennifer Roberts Teaches the Value of Immersive Attention

Teaching students the value of deceleration and immersive attention

Explore More From Current Issue

Will Makris in blue checkered suit and red patterned tie standing outdoors by stone column.

A New Haa President at a Tumultuous Time

A career in higher ed inspired Will Makris to give back.

Man in gray sweater standing in hallway with colorful abstract art on wall.

How Do Single-Celled Organisms Learn and Remember

A Harvard neuroscientist’s quest to model memory in single-celled organisms

Student walking under bright stage lights shaped like smartphones displaying social media apps.

Two Years of Doxxing at Harvard

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