Harvard begins search for new dean of graduate school of education

Harvard president appoints advisory committee.

President Drew Faust has established the advisory committee for the search to identify the successor to Kathleen McCartney, departing dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). McCartney will become president of Smith College on July 1.

According to Faust’s announcement, the committee comprises nine HGSE senior faculty members (Monica Higgins, Nancy Hill, Thomas Kane, Robert Kegan, Nonie Lesaux, Bridget Terry Long, Richard Murnane, Jack Shonkoff, and Hiro Yoshikawa) and professors from other schools with perspectives on HGSE’s work and mission: Christopher Avery (Kennedy School), Amy Edmondson (Business School), Jennifer Hochschild (Faculty of Arts and Sciences, department of government), Lawrence Katz (FAS, department of economics), and Herman (Dutch) Leonard (Business School/Kennedy School). This multidisciplinary, multischool perspective fits well with McCartney’s overhaul of HGSE’s academic doctoral program along three tracks (human development; culture, society, and institutions; and policy and program evaluation) closely aligned with other fields (respectively: psychology, sociology, and economics).

Faust wrote that she and University provost Alan Garber would reach out to faculty members, students, staff, alumni, and others to solicit information about HGSE’s challenges and opportunities, and to identify decanal candidates. Observations and nominations can be sent, in confidence, to gsesearch@harvard.edu.

You might also like

FAS leaders say restructuring will be complete by mid-October.

The award-winning international journalist has served as interim curator since 2025.

College staff whose jobs will be changed or eliminated were notified this week.

Most popular

In her memoir All That's Unseen, Emilee Hackney explores religion, friendship, and home.

Harvard’s Class of 2029 Reflects Shifts in Racial Makeup After Affirmative Action Ends

International students continue to enroll amid political uncertainty; mandatory SATs lead to a drop in applications.

Harvard Weathers a Year of Turmoil

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

Explore More From Current Issue

A blue refrigerator covered with animal pictures, notes, and drawings, surrounded by greenery.

An animal’s journey from grief to love shows how much humans need each other, too.

A profile illustration of a man surrounded by colorful, whimsical text in multiple languages.

For both American and international students, growing up is like learning a new language.

Star-filled night sky with the Milky Way arching over a rocky silhouette.

There’s a growing movement to curb light pollution. It starts on your front porch.