Hunter To Serve as Acting School of Public Health Dean

School of Public Health professor and associate dean David J. Hunter will serve as the school’s acting dean during its search to replace Julio Frenk, who is set to depart for Miami in mid-August.

Hunter will take the reins in the middle of Harvard’s University-wide capital campaign and as the school allocates funding from its recent $350 million gift from Gerald L. Chan—the largest single donation in Harvard’s history. Frenk, who served as dean for six years, will depart to assume a position as president of University of Miami.

A School of Public Health alumnus, Hunter specializes in cancer prevention, with a focus on breast, colorectal, and skin cancers. As dean for academic affairs, he is charged with overseeing the academic operations of the school including faculty and student affairs, diversity, and research administration, according to the school’s website.

“David is a deeply experienced and much-admired faculty member who has played an essential role in the school's recent accomplishments, and I am very grateful to him for his willingness to lead the school and sustain its forward momentum while the dean search proceeds,” University President Drew G. Faust wrote in an email to School of Public Health affiliates.

Faust has assembled an advisory group for the search composed of School of Public Health faculty members, including David R. Bangsberg, Lisa Berkman, Robert J. Blendon, David Cutler, Wafaie W. Fawzi, Russ Hauser, Gökhan S. Hotamisligil, Paula A. Johnson, Howard Koh, Jennifer Leaning, Xihong Lin, Marc Lipsitch, and Marianne Wessling-Resnick.

—Staff writer Mariel A. Klein can be reached at mariel.klein@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @mariel_klein.