Faculty News
Harvard Medical School Study Reveals How Cells Respond to Viral Infections
A new Harvard Medical School study uncovered a mechanism that cells use to rapidly respond to certain viral infections, a finding that researchers say could eventually improve vaccines and gene therapies.
Harvard FAS Launches 25 Faculty Searches, Loosening Hiring Freeze
Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences is launching 25 tenure-track faculty searches, FAS Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra announced in a Monday email to faculty, further loosening a University-wide hiring freeze instituted last spring as the school draws an influx of philanthropic support.
Gino Case Inches Towards Trial Amid Summary Judgement, Discovery Fights
Harvard and former Business School Professor Francesca Gino are nearing a decision on the University’s bid to resolve their three-year legal fight without a trial, after months of disputes over a contested data file, forensic evidence from Gino’s laptop, and the format of her court filings.
FAS Survey Shows Faculty Split on Hoekstra Amid Budget Cuts
Faculty satisfaction with FAS Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra fell sharply this year as professors registered broad discontent with staffing and budget cuts, according to The Crimson’s annual faculty survey.
Harvard's Viewpoint Diversity Push Turns to Faculty Hiring
Harvard is moving its commitment to “viewpoint diversity” from rhetoric into faculty hiring — but as new searches take shape, professors remain divided over whether the goal is to hire conservatives, broaden disciplines, or simply make classrooms more open to dissent.
Faculty Express Cautious Concern About Harvard’s Plan To Endow Viewpoint Diversity Professorships
Harvard’s plan to bankroll a new cohort of professors in the name of “viewpoint diversity” is drawing a wary response from faculty, who said the proposal could expand donor influence and reshape faculty hiring.
Astronomy Professor Karin Öberg Named Senior Vice Provost for Faculty
Astronomy professor Karin Öberg will serve as Harvard’s next senior vice provost for faculty, coordinating faculty recruitment and appointment reviews, the University announced Friday.
After Mixed Results Elsewhere, Faculty at Peer Schools Caution Harvard on Rigid A-Grade Cap
Faculty leaders at peer institutions that have already confronted grade inflation said Harvard is right to take the problem seriously — but warned that a rigid cap on A grades risks running into problems other schools have faced.
The FAS Wanted to Cut Costs. It Hired McKinsey.
When the Faculty of Arts and Sciences set out to slash costs, it turned to an unlikely source for thrift: McKinsey & Company, one of the world’s most expensive management consulting firms, according to four people familiar with the matter.
‘Huge Problem’: Graduate Students Warn Harvard Ph.D. Cuts Are Hitting Classrooms and Labs
The effects of Harvard’s planned reductions to Ph.D. admissions are already being felt across the University, graduate students said, as smaller cohorts strain teaching capacity and limit mentorship.
Harvard’s AAUP Set Out to Reform the University. Instead, It Went National.
Seven Harvard professors logged onto a Zoom call hoping to strengthen faculty governance. Less than a year later, their fledgling AAUP chapter was in federal court, challenging the Trump administration’s pressure on higher education.
Harvard Offers to Remove Time Caps for Preceptors and Lecturers in Exchange for Higher Course Load Requirements
Harvard pushed to increase the course load of non-tenure-track faculty at a bargaining session last Friday, escalating tensions with the union’s thousands of members as the negotiations drag into their second year.
Public Health Faculty Slam Harvard’s Removal of FXB Center Director Mary Bassett
More than 400 Harvard affiliates signed a petition to reinstate the director of the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights in a withering rebuke of the University’s decision to dismiss her earlier this week.
PBS Cuts Ties With Former Harvard Professor Elisa New Following Epstein Email Release
PBS has stopped airing former Harvard English professor Elisa F. New’s show, “Poetry in America,” after emails released by the House Oversight Committee last month revealed close ties between New, her husband Lawrence H. Summers, and convicted sex offender Jeffrey E. Epstein, according to a spokesperson for PBS.
Will the AI Bubble Burst? Harvard Faculty Weigh In
Three Harvard faculty said they think fears that an artificial intelligence bubble will burst — leading stock prices to collapse in the wake of soaring investments into AI companies — are overblown and a recession is unlikely.
Harvard Departments Brace for Teaching Fellow Shortage After Ph.D. Cuts
Harvard’s deep cuts to PhD admissions are on track to leave undergraduate courses short of teaching fellows within two years, a looming squeeze already pushing departments to prepare contingency plans.
‘He Should Resign’: Harvard Undergrads Take Hard Line Against Summers Over Epstein Scandal
Harvard students decried former University President Lawrence H. Summers’ relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey E. Epstein, with some calling for his resignation after documents released last week showed the two maintained a close correspondence until Epstein’s final arrest in July 2019.
Harvard Faculty Disturbed by Revelations of Summers’ ‘Cozy Friendship’ With Epstein
Harvard professors responded with outrage to a tranche of emails showing a close yearslong correspondence between former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers and sex offender Jeffrey E. Epstein, reopening an old and bitter divide between Summers and the faculty.
Archaeologists Present Findings on Enslaved People Buried in Old Burying Ground
Harvard archaeology professor Jason Ur and Johns Hopkins professor Aja M. Lans presented their findings on the enslaved individuals buried in the Old Burying Ground cemetery across from Harvard Yard last Wednesday.
Planning Group Releases Proposed Bylaws for a Faculty Senate at Harvard
The planning body for a University-wide faculty senate released proposed bylaws for the group on Friday, recommending a 43-member senate that would help advise Harvard’s central administration and governing boards on issues that cut across the University.
HBS Professor Arthur Schleifer Jr. Remembered for Innovative Teaching Programs, Appreciation for the Arts
While most knew Harvard Business School Professor Arthur Schleifer, Jr. for his data-driven business strategies and his innovative teaching curriculum, Schleifer was also immersed in literature and had a love for solving crossword puzzles.
Academic Publishing Keeps Getting More Expensive. Some Harvard Scholars Want to Make It Free.
The high cost of publishing open access has plagued researchers for years, but a dedicated group of Harvard scientists and librarians are fighting to alleviate the costs of publishing.
SEAS Researchers Develop Wearable Sensor System to Measure Running Forces Outdoors
Researchers at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have developed a wearable sensor system capable of estimating braking and propulsion forces while running outdoors — a breakthrough that could transform how scientists analyze real-world running mechanics.
Harvard Physics Professor John Huth Wins U.S. ATLAS Lifetime Achievement Award
Harvard Physics professor John Huth was awarded the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award by ATLAS, a group of American particle physicists.
Harvard Lays Off Student Advisers and Lecturers in SEAS Cuts
Nearly a dozen positions that directly support students were among those eliminated in a sweeping round of layoffs at Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences earlier this month, according to a document obtained by The Crimson.
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