William A. Graham to step down as Harvard Divinity School dean in June 2012

William A. Graham plans to conclude his deanship at the end of the academic year.

William A. Graham plans to conclude his deanship at the end of the academic year.

Harvard Divinity School dean William A. Graham announced that he would relinquish his post at the end of this academic year, concluding a decade of service (he began serving as acting dean in January 2002). Following a year of leave, he will resume teaching as a Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor. Graham, a member of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences since 1973, has been director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Master of Currier House, and chair of the department of Near Eastern languages and civilizations and the committee on the study of religion. His scholarly work focuses on early Islamic religious history and the history of world religion.

In a statement in the news release, President Drew Faust said, “Bill Graham has been a dedicated leader of the Divinity School, helping to build on its important legacy within Harvard while also guiding the significant expansion of its work across religious and cultural divides. I am deeply grateful for his long and varied service to the University—as a scholar, teacher, and dean—and I am pleased that he will remain an active faculty member in the years ahead.”

The news release cited his role in broadening the school's faculty and programs by “by building strength in the study and teaching of Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic, Jewish, and other traditions” and noted that more than half of the school’s current faculty members were appointed during Graham’s deanship. He also oversaw revision of the school’s degree programs.

You might also like

‘Passengers’ at A.R.T. Blends Acrobatics with Einstein’s Relativity

Review: Quantum mechanics meets circus arts at the American Repertory Theater’s performance

Harvard Research Funding Cuts Are Illegal, Judge Rules

The Trump administration violated the University’s First Amendment rights and must restore all funding, the court said.

In Sermon, Garber Urges Harvard Community to ‘Defend and Protect’ Institutions

Harvard’s president uses traditional Memorial Church address to encourage divergent views.

Most popular

Harvard art historian Jennifer Roberts teaches the value of immersive attention

Teaching students the value of deceleration and immersive attention

How MAGA Went Mainstream at Harvard

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

Jodie Foster Honored at Radcliffe Day 2025

The actress and director discussed her film career and her transformative time at Yale.

Explore More From Current Issue

Johnston Gate

Your Views on Harvard’s Standoff, Antisemitism, and More

Readers comment on the controversial July-August cover, authoritarianism, and scientific research.

Book cover of "Black Moses" by Caleb Gayle with subtitle about ambition and the fight for a Black state.

Civil Rights in the American West

A new book chronicles one man’s quest for a Black state.

Two women in traditional kimonos, one lighting a cigarette, in a scene from Apart from You.

Harvard Film Archive Spotlights Japanese Director Mikio Naruse

A retrospective of the filmmaker’s works, from Floating Clouds to Flowing