Two years after Claudine Gay resigned, Harvard extends her successor’s presidency
Alan Garber will continue as Harvard University's president indefinitely, according to an email sent by the Harvard Corporation on Monday.
Garber was named president in August 2024, with his term set to end after the 2026-27 academic year.
He had served as interim president previously when former president Claudine Gay resigned after facing backlash over her congressional testimony about antisemitism on campus and plagiarism accusations.
The indefinite extension came about through votes from the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers.
In a written message to the Harvard community, Penny Pritzker, senior fellow of the Harvard Corporation, praised Garber's uncommon intellectual breadth and his decisiveness.
"The experience of the last few years has given new meaning to the words sung each year at commencement — 'calm rising through change and through storm,'" Pritzker said.
"Alan's humble, resilient and effective leadership has shown itself to be not just a vital source of calm in turbulent times, but also a generative force for sustaining Harvard's commitment to academic excellence and to free inquiry and expression," she wrote.
Through Garber's presidency, he provided confident leadership as the university came under fire from the Trump administration, leading to billions of dollars in federal funding cuts.
The university was the first to openly defy the federal government and sued the Trump administration in two federal lawsuits, of which a judge ultimately sided with Harvard on.
Garber, in an email sent after Pritzker's, embraced the role.
"Our progress has made me prouder than ever to be part of the University—and determined to see us through this uniquely challenging period in our long history," he said.
Prior to serving as president, Garber was Harvard's provost for more than 12 years.
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