Danielle Allen University Professor

A high-ranking position for a new member of the faculties

Portrait of Danielle Allen

Danielle Allen | Photograph by Jim Harrison

Political theorist Danielle Allen, who came to Harvard just last year—she is professor of government, professor of education, and director of the Edmund J. Safra Center for Ethics—has been appointed Conant University Professor. University Professors hold the highest faculty rank at Harvard, reflecting the eminence of their scholarshp; they are free to teach and conduct research in any University school. (Chinese literature scholar Stephen Owen is also a Conant University Professor.)

Allen’s scholarship was profiled in depth in “The Egalitarian,” published in the May-June 2016 Harvard Magazine. She is known to a wide readership through her commentaries for The Washington Post.

Read the University announcement here.

You might also like

President Alan M. Garber used traditional Memorial Church address to consider the unique qualities of human intelligence and learning.

Due to rain, the University held dual Convocation ceremonies for the Class of 2030 in Sanders Theatre.

After a final round of layoffs, University leaders say 165 staff jobs were eliminated across the division.

Most popular

The University will compensate families of those whose remains were sold and establish a scholarship to honor anatomical donors.

The 1884 Cannibalism-at-Sea Case That Still Has Harvard Talking

The Queen v. Dudley and Stephens changed the course of legal history. Here’s why it’s been fodder for countless classroom debates.

All That’s Unseen charts the Harvard graduate’s uneasy journey from Appalachia to Cambridge and back.  

Explore More From Current Issue

Three hands hold smartphones displaying social media profiles with likes and hearts.

Tell us about how social media impacts your daily life.

Modern building with large glass windows, surrounded by greenery and pedestrians.

A roundup of University news from the summer of 2026

A woman with curly blonde hair sits casually against a stone wall, wearing a black top and jeans.

Chloe Chapin trains her Broadway costume designer’s eye on the history of men’s fashion.