Harvard University is searching for a new president and has tapped a Black woman business executive to assist with the “challenges and opportunities facing the University.”
According to The Harvard Crimson, Vivian Y. Hunt was appointed as the new president of the board of overseers.
For the 2024-2025 school year, the Harvard Business School alumna, who has been described as “a voice for diversity and impact at scale” by the school, is set to lead the board.
The outlet details that three overseers serve on Harvard University’s presidential search committee and the president of the overseers has been one of the three in the institution’s past five searches.
Tyler Jacks, the founding director of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT and fellow Harvard University alumna, is joining Hunt as board vice chair. Jacks was a member of the presidential search committee that selected former president Claudine Gay in 2022.
“Tyler Jacks and I hope to work closely with Interim President Garber and all of our stakeholders to support excellence, inclusion, and world-class leadership in all that we do,” Hunt stated, per the outlet.
“Vivian Hunt and Tyler Jacks are both exceptionally accomplished alumni and leaders,” said Garber in a press release. “Their complementary talents and experiences are sure to serve the University well in the year ahead.”
Hunt’s appointment comes after Gay resigned as Harvard University’s president in January 2024, leaving the institution to look for a permanent successor.
As previously shared by AFROTECH™, she stepped down following the aftermath of allegations of plagiarism and backlash over campus antisemitism. In addition, in Gay’s announcement, she shared that she had been “subjected to personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus.”
The Harvard Crimson notes that while Hunt becoming the president of Harvard University’s board of overseers is a significant update, it won’t likely speed up Harvard University announcing its president search committee.
