Harvard Presidential Search Student Advisers Named

The members of the student advisory committee for Harvard’s presidential search were announced today, following the faculty and staff advisory committees disclosed on August 25 and completing the roster of such advisers. Each advisory committee is in touch with its constituencies, reaching out into the Harvard community, and each is a conduit of information about perceived University opportunities and challenges, and attributes desirable for a new Harvard president. Each committee in turn provides advice to the search committee itself, which includes the 12 members of the Corporation other than the president and three members of the Board of Overseers.

The student advisers are:

Christopher Cleveland (chair), Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) and Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) [Updated September 22, 2022, 8:35 a.m.: As the Crimson has reported, Cleveland is a veteran in this role: he served on the student advisory committee during the search that resulted in the appointment of Lawrence S. Bacow as president in 2018.]

Esias Bedingar, GSAS and Harvard Chan School of Public Health

Jack Blank, Harvard Extension School

Laura Pesquera Colom, Harvard School of Dental Medicine

Sarah Eisen, GSAS

Sonya Falkovskaia, Harvard Graduate School of Design 

Caleb Kimball King, Harvard College

Anneka Kumli, Harvard Kennedy School of Government

Max Meehan, GSAS and Harvard Business School (HBS)

Yinka Ogunbiyi, Harvard Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and HBS

Xavier Pérez Román, Harvard College

Natalie Sadlak, Harvard Medical School 

Lena Shi, GSAS and HGSE 

Dustin Tillman, GSAS

Emma Thomas, Harvard Divinity School 

Rosa Vargas, Harvard Law School 

Jenny Yoon, Harvard College

Daniel Yue, GSAS and HBS

In a statement accompanying the announcement, Penny Pritzker, the Corporation’s senior fellow and chair of the presidential search committee, said: 

Harvard is home to some of the world’s most remarkable students, and it will be invaluable to benefit from the views of this group of outstanding students from across the University, as our search committee thinks about Harvard and its future leadership. We’re grateful to these students for their willingness both to share their own insights with us and to help us learn more about the varied perspectives of their peers.

She invited “continuing input on the major opportunities and challenges likely to face Harvard in the years ahead, on key qualities and experience to seek in our next president, and on individuals who merit serious consideration,” noting, “Many students, faculty, staff, and alumni have already been in touch, and we welcome hearing from more.”

Those wishing to comment may do so, in confidence, by emailing [email protected]; going online; or writing to the Harvard Presidential Search Committee, Loeb House, 17 Quincy St., Cambridge, MA 02138.

Read the University announcement here.