Decanal Duo

Kathleen McCartney Photograph by Dina Konovalovia/A Dream Picture Kathleen McCartney, Lesser professor in early childhood development...

Kathleen McCartney
Photograph by Dina Konovalovia/A Dream Picture

Kathleen McCartney, Lesser professor in early childhood development and since July 2005 acting dean of Harvard Graduate School of Education, was named to the deanship on May 16 by President Lawrence H. Summers. McCartney, who earned her Ph.D. in psychology from Yale, has focused on interactions among childcare, parenting, and poverty in her research. She joined the faculty in 2000 and served as academic dean during the 2004-2005 year. A more detailed profile will appear in a future issue.

Jeremy R. Knowles
Photograph by Jon Chase/Harvard News Office

Separately, interim president Derek Bok named Jeremy R. Knowles interim dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) after conferring with a 10-member faculty advisory committee and consulting junior professors and the graduate and undergraduate student councils. Knowles, Houghton professor of chemistry and biochemistry, was previously dean from 1991 until William C. Kirby took office in July 2002. In making the appointment on May 22, Bok said, “A term as interim dean does not allow the luxury of learning on the job, and no other individual rivals Jeremy in his experience of FAS affairs or his capacity to begin immediately to address important administrative issues while maintaining forward motion” on matters ranging from the undergraduate curriculum review to Allston planning. Knowles, reflecting on his and Bok’s second turns at their jobs, wrote to the FAS faculty and staff, “In the light of his own generous decision, it was, of course, impossible for me to look President Bok in the eye and say ‘No.’” He would have to discover, Knowles wrote, “where things stand (academically, financially, and in spirit),” and encouraged colleagues to let him know.

Most popular

Harvard Weathers a Year of Turmoil

The federal government has launched unprecedented actions against the University. Here’s a guide.

Trump Administration Asks Appeals Court to Restore Harvard Funding Cuts

The government’s lawyers homed in on a jurisdictional argument for its authority to to terminate federal grants. 

Lafayette’s Unexpected Gift to George Washington: Pheasants

The two birds will be on display at Harvard this summer.

Explore More From Current Issue

Two laboratory researchers, one seated and one standing, in a scientific lab with equipment.

The stakes are high for this husband and wife: one of them will die if they don’t find a cure.

Three young women posed side by side against red background.

The 2026-2027 Ledecky and Summer Undergraduate Fellows

Caricature of a young man in front of red doors, wearing a green striped sweater.

In 1954, Gregory Corso moved into Eliot House. How he stayed there is a literary legend.