Richardson Begins As Radcliffe’s Executive Dean

Earlier this month, Louise M. Richardson left her Kirkland Street office as an associate professor in the government department, and entered Radcliffe Yard as the executive dean.

She replaces Clayton Spencer, who served as acting dean during the Institute’s first days.

In her position—which began on July 1 although it was only announced last week—Richardson will oversee Radcliffe’s finances, information and technology, human resources, and facilities.

“I felt that this was an extraordinary opportunity to get involved from the beginning in building a new, exciting and very important institution,” she said.

In a press release, Dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study Drew Gilpin Faust said that Richardson’s “stellar reputation as an administrator and an intellectual” made her a good match for Radcliffe.

“Her expertise in both areas will be invaluable as we work together to shape the direction of the Institute and to implement its mission,” she said.

Richardson said that the Institute’s mission statement—which includes both a broader devotion to the pursuit of advanced work across a wide range of academic disciplines and a continuing commitment to the study of women, gender and society—attracted her to the Radcliffe job, along with the chance to work with the “dynamic” Faust.

And though she has spent less than a month in her new office in Radcliffe’s Fay House, Richardson is already looking ahead to the next academic year.

“We’re moving ahead on all fronts,” she said, citing extensive planning for the arrival of new fellows and programming for the upcoming year as particularly pressing issues.

Although she acknowledged the difficulty of attracting talented national and international fellows for the Institute, Richardson said she is not daunted by the task.

“I really mean it when I say I don’t think in terms of problems,” she said, “I think of opportunities and challenges.”

According to Richardson, Radcliffe’s reputation will rise or fall based on the quality of research produced by the Institute in the coming years. She said she is optimistic that Radcliffe will attract “enormously productive, innovative scholars.”

But for Richardson, productivity and innovation are only the beginning—steps on the way to what she described as Radcliffe’s evolution into “the best center for advanced study in the world, bar none.”

In addition to teaching several popular courses in the government department, Richardson was also the Head Tutor for six years and received several teaching awards from students and faculty, including the Levenson Award from the Undergraduate Council—the highest teaching award from the student body.

At Radcliffe, though, she will leave teaching behind—at least for the time being.

“I do hope though that in the future I will be able to make the time to teach an occasional course or two,” she said. “I do love teaching Harvard undergraduates and I will certainly miss teaching.”

Richardson is a political scientist specializing in international terrorism, international relations theory, and British foreign and defense policy.

In the past she has served on numerous faculty committees, including the Standing Committee on the Status of Women.

—Staff Writer Catherine E. Shoichet can be reached at shoichet@fas.harvard.edu.