Eliot Senior Tutor Resigns

Margaret Bruzelius '74 announced last week that she would be leaving her position as senior tutor in Eliot House to accept a deanship at Smith College.

Bruzelius's replacement will be Oona B. Ceder '90, an assistant professor of political science at the University of California at San Diego since 1997.

Ceder says she is looking forward to the job.

"[Harvard] is a home away from home," said Ceder, who came to Harvard from Sweden and lived in Winthrop House as an undergraduate.

Ceder stressed the idea of community when she talked about her new job.

"I see it as a job that focuses on community building as well as ensuring the students' academic and personal welfare," she said. "Eliot House has a wonderful set of resident tutors, and I want to continue to build on the community that already exists within the house."

Her first task, Ceder said, will be learning how the Harvard bureaucracy works and learning the names of the 460 undergraduates for whom she is responsible.

"Ideally I'd like to know them all on a first-name basis, like [Bruzelius]," she said.

At her new job at Smith, Bruzelius will work as an academic advisor to the sophomore and junior classes at Smith.

"It's a very different place," Bruzelius said of the all-women school.

Bruzelius said that she was surprised when she was offered the position at Smith, but jumped at the opportunity.

"I was expecting to be at Eliot House for another year. I was looking forward to working with the new masters," Bruzelius said, referring to Professor of Romance Languages and Literature Lino Pertile and his wife, Anna Bensted.

Associate Dean of the College Thomas A. Dingman '67, who worked with Bruzelius at the Harvard-Radcliffe Parents Association before they both came to the University, said that Bruzelius has done a "stupendous" job.

"[Students] have appreciated her wisdom and her care," Dingman said. "She's been a fun colleague. She's got lots of life experience to draw on."

Siobhan Quinlan '01, a resident of Eliot House, joined Dingman in applauding Bruzelius.

"Margaret has been a tremendous asset to the house, and her absence will definitely be felt," Quinlan wrote in an e-mail message. "She's an extremely knowledgeable, helpful and caring person."

Dingman also praised the new tutor.

"People who are familiar with [Ceder's] scholarship say that she is a superb teacher and has earned a strong reputation," he said. "She is interested in both the teaching and administrative ends of this work."