Harvard Names Dr. Claudine Gay to Presidency

Dr. Claudine Gay, president-elect of Harvard University.Dr. Claudine Gay is making history.

Gay, dean of Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, will succeed current Harvard President Dr. Lawrence S. Bacow on July 1, 2023. Gay’s appointment marks the first time a person of color will lead the nation’s oldest and one of its most prominent postsecondary institutions.

Gay will be only the second woman to take the role.

“I am honored to stand before you as the next president of Harvard University,” Gay said at a press conference following the announcement. “I love this place. Harvard is where I found my intellectual home. It has nurtured and inspired me since I first set foot in the yard. I am deeply invested not only in what Harvard is today but also what its leadership means for the future.”

Gay will be the second Black woman to lead an Ivy League university, following Dr. Ruth Simmons, who served as president of Brown University from 2001 to 2012.

Dr. Ruth Simmons, president of Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Prairie View A&M University.“This is of course very welcome news, not just because [Gay] happens to be African American, but because she has had a very distinguished career and has been a leader in higher education for some time,” said Simmons, who is now the president of Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Prairie View A&M University in Texas. “That Harvard recognizes her strengths and is willing to put her in this leadership position is very good and a sign that times are changing, in terms of the way that we recognize people’s capabilities for leadership.”

Experts in higher education, diversity, equity and inclusion celebrated the news, hoping it could signal to other institutions that it is time for more diverse leadership. Gay’s appointment comes on the heels of the U.S Supreme Court case Students for Fair Admissions vs. Harvard College, which could end affirmative action, the consideration of race in admissions.