Harvard University tapped Sunday a former President Barack Obama adviser to be its new president.
Lawrence S. Bacow, former Tufts University president, will replace Drew Gilpin Faust, Harvard’s first female president who held the office since July 1, 2007, reported The Washington Post.
Obama appointed Bacow to his presidential board of advisers for historically black colleges and universities in 2010. Bacow said that these schools played “a critical role in providing access and opportunity to so many young people.”
“Larry Bacow is one of the most accomplished, admired, insightful and effective leaders in American higher education,” said William F. Lee, a Harvard Corporation senior fellow who chairs the presidential search committee, according to WaPo. “This is a pivotal moment for higher education — one full of extraordinary possibilities to pursue new knowledge, enhance education and serve society, but also a time when the singular value of higher education and university research has too often been challenged and called into doubt. Such a time calls for skillful leadership, strategic thinking, and disciplined execution. Larry will provide just that.”
Before they selected Bacow, a white male, to assume the presidency, Harvard’s presidential search committee received pleas from students and alumni to favor candidates from underrepresented groups, reported The Harvard Crimson.
DR. JORDAN B. PETERSON DISCUSSES HARVARD’S DISCIPLINE OF FRAT BROS:
“The Harvard I have known has always stood for at least three things: the pursuit of truth, an unwavering commitment to excellence, and opportunity,” Bacow said after being elected to the role by the Harvard Corp. with the consent of the university’s Board of Overseers. “In a nation divided, these guiding ideals have never been more important.”
Bacow studied at MIT and Harvard, earning three degrees at the latter institution in public policy and law. He served as Hauser leader-in-residence at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government’s Center for Public Leadership after his decade spent as president of Tufts University.
“The Harvard I have known has always stood for at least three things: the pursuit of truth, an unwavering commitment to excellence, and opportunity,” said Bacow upon his election. “In a nation divided, these guiding ideals have never been more important.”
Bacow received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, has a wife and two sons, and is allergic to cats and dogs.
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