History has been made at Harvard College, as Claudine Gay turns into the principal non-white individual — and second lady — to be named leader of the school.
According to the university, Gay, 52, has been teaching African and African American Studies and government for the past 16 years. She has been the Edgerley Family Dean of Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences since August 2018. Prior to that, from 2015 to 2018, she served as Dean of Social Science.
The Harvard Gazette reports that Gay was elected to the presidency on December 15 by the Harvard Corporation, the primary governing board of the University, with the approval of the Board of Overseers. She’s set to step into the new job on July 1, 2023.
Gay expressed her joy and gratitude at being elected president in a new video.
“For me, this role is about harnessing the power of ideas and supporting the people who pursue them,” Gay says. “Few things give me more joy, more energy, than talking to a colleague working in a field that’s new to me or hearing the questions that are on the mind of a new generation of students. These conversations let me see the world with fresh eyes.”
Gay reflected on the path her parents set for her that led her to a career in academia. Gay was born to Haitian immigrants.
“They came to the U.S. with very little and put themselves through college while raising our family. They believe that education makes everything possible. Being an academic opened up my world, and helped me achieve a dream I could never imagine.”
Before completing her PhD at Harvard in 1998, Gay earned an honors-and-distinctions B.A. in economics from Stanford University.
The university’s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) is strengthened by her appointment. 15.2% of the admitted class of 2026 identify as African American, up from 12.7% in 2020, 27.9% as Asian American, and 12.6% as Hispanic or Latino, according to the Harvard University website.
Gay expresses that as a lady of variety and little girl of migrants, “assuming my presence in this job confirms somebody’s feeling of having a place at Harvard, that is a significant privilege.”
“And for those who are beyond our gates, if this prompts them to look anew at Harvard, to consider new possibilities for themselves and their futures, then my appointment will have meaning for me that goes beyond words.”
Gay expressed her determination to carry on the “powerful legacies” of the leaders who came before her as she looked back on the university’s accomplishments, which ranged from advances in artificial intelligence to climate change and sustainability.
“Our community is a large and diverse team and we are united by a shared commitment to academic excellence and leadership and all the values that ensure it. Embracing those values, especially academic freedom and wide open inquiry, is not only the path to excellence but it’s how we harness our breadth and diversity to build the legacy that our institution deserves.”
