Katie O’Dair’s office has hosted luminaries at Harvard for hundreds of years. Literally. George Washington briefly set up shop in the blue-walled room in Wadsworth House in 1775, making plans for the Revolutionary war.
As University marshal, O’Dair, appointed in 2022 after six years as Harvard’s dean of students, has continued that tradition of rolling out the red carpet on Harvard’s behalf. “A good part of our work is coordination for offices who want to bring in special guests,” O’Dair says, flipping through a guestbook near her desk that has been signed by King Charles III, Conan O’Brien, and Ken Burns— a small sampling.
But her job is less about celebrities and more about ensuring that everyone passing through Harvard Square feels that sense of welcome, including loved ones who visit each year for Commencement. It’s easy to see how: walking through Wadsworth House, she’s warm and chatty, pointing out the building’s low eighteenth-century doors (she’s too tall to fit through them) and showing off her favorite artifacts, including a framed copy of Washington’s honorary degree. It’s almost as if O’Dair is giving an informal tour of her neighborhood. In a sense, she is; she lives a few blocks away.
Among its many other functions, which range from running Harvard’s gift program to arranging security for dignitaries, the Marshal’s Office is the central point of contact for planning Commencement exercises. During the main ceremony, O’Dair emcees the program and leads the president’s delegation in its procession to the stage, carrying a scepter outfitted with the Harvard crest and engraved with the names of marshals dating back to the 1800s.
“It’s the best day at Harvard,” she says.
A previous version of this article misstated the battles that George Washington planned in Wadsworth House.
