University People

College Dean Designated

Rosenkrantz professor of the history of science and of African and African American studies Evelynn M. Hammonds, Ph.D. ’93, will become dean of Harvard College on June 1, succeeding Ford professor of human evolution David Pilbeam, who has served on an interim basis. Since 2005, Hammonds has been senior vice provost for faculty development and diversity, gaining a Univer- sity-wide perspective on faculty recruiting and support for faculty, graduate students, and postdocs struggling to balance work and family obligations. “Those issues will always be a focus for me,” she says. “I just won’t be doing them for central administration.” Her new job has two major projects teed up: renewing the undergraduate Houses (see Brevia [5], page 69) and launching a new general-education curriculum to replace the Core. She also wants to enrich the College’s arts offerings—curricular and otherwise—and undergraduates’ science education and research opportunities.

 

Engineering Deanship Ends

School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) dean Venkatesh Narayanamurti announced on February 15 that he would relinquish the post in September, concluding a decade of service. He had intended to step down in 2006, but stayed on during transitions in University and Faculty of Arts and Sciences leadership to oversee the elevation of his unit’s status from a division to a school (see “‘First Day of School [6]’ for Engineering,” November-December 2007, page 74). SEAS faculty ranks increased by 50 percent during his tenure; graduate-student enrollment surged. Narayanamurti will return to teaching after a sabbatical; an advisory committee is being formed to assist in the decanal search.

 

Overseer Leaders

Roger W. Ferguson Jr. ’73, J.D. ’79, Ph.D. ’81, former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, will preside over the Board of Overseers for the 2008-2009 academic year. He succeeds former Vassar president Frances D. Fergusson, Ph.D. ’73. Pauline Yu ’71, president of the American Council of Learned Societies, becomes vice chair of the Overseers’ executive committee, succeeding attorney William F. Lee ’72.

 

Development(s)

Paul Keenan ’85 has been appointed senior associate dean and director of development for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS). He succeeds Scott Abell ’72, dean for FAS development, who is retiring at the end of the academic year. Linda Fates becomes associate dean for resource development for the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. And a quartet of senior development officers has been formed into a new high-level University Principal Gifts Team: Roger Cheever ’67, M.L.A. ’77, associate vice president; Charles Collier, M.T.S. ’73, senior philanthropic adviser; Joe Donovan ’72, director; and Shirley Peppers, director.

 

Currier Captains

An expert on primate behavior and human evolution, Richard Wrangham, Moore professor of anthropology, and Elizabeth Ross have been appointed master and co-master, respectively, of Currier House, effective July 1. The couple, who have three children, have worked extensively in Uganda, where Wrangham founded the Kibale Chimpanzee Project and Ross is executive director of the Kasiisi Project, which supports primary schooling.