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Alan Garber

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Alan Garber
Garber in 2015
31st President of Harvard University
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 2, 2024
Preceded byClaudine Gay
Provost of Harvard University
In office
September 1, 2011 – March 14, 2024
Preceded bySteven Hyman
Succeeded byJohn F. Manning
Personal details
Born (1955-05-07) May 7, 1955 (age 69)
Illinois, U.S.
SpouseAnne Yahanda
Children4
EducationHarvard University (BA, MA, PhD)
Stanford University (MD)
Scientific career
FieldsHealth care policy
Institutions
ThesisCosts and control of antibiotic resistance (1982)
Doctoral advisorsMartin Feldstein
Zvi Griliches
Richard Zeckhauser

Alan Michael Garber (born May 7, 1955) is an American physician and health economist, currently serving as the 31st president of Harvard University since January 2024.[1][2]

Early life and education

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Garber was born in Illinois, in 1955, to Harry and Jean Garber in a Jewish household.[3] He grew up in Rock Island, Illinois.[4]

Garber attended Harvard College, where he obtained a A.B. in economics in 1976 followed by a A.M. and Ph.D. in economics, also from Harvard.[4] While pursuing his Ph.D., he enrolled simultaneously at Stanford University, where he received a Doctor of Medicine degree in 1983.[5] He completed his residency training in internal medicine at Harvard Medical School-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston in 1986.

Career

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Garber succeeded Steven Hyman as the provost of Harvard University on September 1, 2011.[5] He served as provost until March 14, 2024, when John F. Manning took on the position on an interim basis.[6]

Garber is also the Mallinckrodt Professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School, Professor of Economics in the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School, and Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management in the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.[7][8]

He is currently the president of Harvard University, having succeeded Claudine Gay after her resignation.[9][10] Initially appointed as an interim president, on August 2, 2024, the Harvard Corporation announced that Garber would be the university's permanent president for a fixed term of three years ending at the conclusion of the 2026–2027 academic year.

He was officially installed as Harvard's 31st president on December 7, 2024, at a private ceremony at Harvard Art Museums' Menschel Hall.[11]

Controversies

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Opposition to graduate student unionization

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In July 2016, Harvard University's Office of the Provost launched a web page in response to its graduate students' efforts to unionize.[12] On August 23, 2016, following the Columbia decision which restored union rights to teaching and research assistants, the provost's office wrote in an email to students, "we continue to believe that the relationship between students and the University is primarily about education, and that unionization will disrupt academic programs and freedoms, mentoring, and research at Harvard."[12] Following a decision by the regional director of the National Labor Relations Board that Harvard was in violation of the Excelsior rule, Garber defended the university's appeal to the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C.,[13] writing that the university "believes that the November 2016 election results, which reflect the votes and voices of well-informed students, should stand, and has appealed the Regional Director's decision to the contrary."[12]

Pharmaceutical board memberships

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In October 2019, The Harvard Crimson reported that Garber collected more than $2.7 million serving on the board of directors for Exelixis[14] and Vertex Pharmaceuticals[15] since being appointed as Harvard's provost in 2011, according to SEC filings.[16] The companies indicated that his compensation was normal for board members.[17] Garber stated that he had thoroughly disclosed his industry affiliations in conflict of interest forms for the university.[18]

2024 commencement

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Under Garber's leadership, Harvard administration drew criticism for preventing 13 undergraduates from collecting their diplomas at the annual commencement ceremony as a consequence for participation in pro-Palestinian protests.[19] Nearly 500 Harvard faculty and students criticized the sanctions as disproportionate, unprecedented, and designed to stifle open discourse,[20] while others identified it as an example of the "Palestine Exception" to free speech.[21] The decision was initially overturned by 115 faculty members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, but ultimately reinstated by the Harvard Corporation.[22]

Personal life

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Garber and his wife Anne Yahanda have four children.[5]

References

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  1. ^ "Biography". Harvard Office of the President. Archived from the original on February 2, 2024. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  2. ^ Kool, Daniel; Koh, Elizabeth (January 2, 2024). "Who is Alan Garber, Harvard's incoming interim leader?". The Boston Globe. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  3. ^ Ben-David, Ricky; Magid, Jacob (January 4, 2024). "Harvard taps Jewish provost who lamented school's failure to denounce Hamas as interim president". The Times of Israel.
  4. ^ a b "Alan Michael Garber". Stanford University. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  5. ^ a b c "Alan M. Garber Appointed Provost". Harvard Magazine. April 15, 2011.
  6. ^ Haidar, Emma H.; Kettles, Cam E. (March 1, 2024). "Harvard Law School Dean John Manning '82 Named Interim Provost by Garber". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  7. ^ "Alan M. Garber MD, PhD - Health Care Policy - Harvard Medical School". Hcp.med.harvard.edu. March 3, 2016. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  8. ^ "Alan M. Garber". Nber.org. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  9. ^ Haidar, Emma H.; Kettles, Cam E. (August 3, 2024). "Alan Garber '76 is Harvard's 31st President, Search for Successor to Begin in 2026". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
  10. ^ "Harvard President Claudine Gay Resigns, Shortest Tenure in University History". thecrimson.com. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  11. ^ "Alan Garber '76 Installed as Harvard's 31st President in Private Ceremony | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved December 10, 2024.
  12. ^ a b c Bolotnikova, Marina (August 23, 2016). "Private Universities Must Recognize Graduate-Student Unions". Harvard Gazette. Harvard University. Archived from the original on November 19, 2019. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  13. ^ Caroline S. Engelmayer (November 3, 2017). "Garber Defends NLRB Appeal in Message to Students". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  14. ^ "Exelixis Appoints Dr. Alan M. Garber to Board of Directors". Exelixis, Inc. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  15. ^ "Vertex Names Dr. Alan Garber, Provost of Harvard University, to its Board of Directors". Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  16. ^ "Harvard Provost Garber Has Collected $2.7 Million From Pharma Companies Since 2011 | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  17. ^ "Harvard Provost Garber Has Collected $2.7 Million From Pharma Companies Since 2011 | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  18. ^ "Harvard Provost Garber Has Collected $2.7 Million From Pharma Companies Since 2011 | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  19. ^ "Outrage at Decision to Deny Diplomas to 13 Pro-Palestine Students Overshadows Harvard Commencement | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved May 28, 2024.
  20. ^ "Nearly 500 Harvard Faculty, Staff Blast Sanctions Against Pro-Palestine Protesters in Open Letter | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved May 28, 2024.
  21. ^ "Suspending Student Protesters Would Be a Palestine Exception to Free Speech | Opinion | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved May 28, 2024.
  22. ^ "Harvard Corporation Rejects FAS Effort to Let 13 Pro-Palestine Student Protesters Graduate | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved May 28, 2024.
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