After Nine Years at Helm, School of Public Health Dean To Step Down

Barry R. Bloom, the veteran dean of the School of Public Health, will step down from the position he has held since 1999 at the end of this academic year, the University announced Thursday night.

Bloom, the longest serving dean at any of Harvard's 11 schools, said in a phone interview that he was proud of his tenure but that it is time for a change in leadership.

“What a privilege it has been to be a dean at Harvard University—what an incredible opportunity it has been to work with four extraordinary presidents,” he said.

When asked why he chose this point to step down, Bloom pointed to his long tenure and said the school needs “someone younger and more dynamic.”

“I’m 71 years old and I will finish a run of close to 10 years,” he said. “You give up a lot of life in working 24/7 for any institution.”

In his nearly nine years at the post, Bloom, an expert on immunology and tropical diseases, expanded the school's international research projects in Africa, India, and China and sought to increase financial aid.

Bloom added in the statement that the University's expansion into Allston marks an opportunity for the next dean to outline a new vision for the school.

"It is clearly desirable and necessary that the School have new leadership to take it into its next phase, so that a new dean can participate both in shaping the plan for the future and in seeing it through to fruition," Bloom said in a statement released by the University.

Bloom's announcement is the latest sign that an older generation of Harvard leaders is handing the reins to a new one.

At the start of the last academic year, the university president and the deans of Harvard's nine faculties had a combined 58 years of experience in their present posts.

As of next fall, those 10 officials will have a cumulative 23 years of experience in their posts.

—Staff writers Aditi Balakrishna, Paras D. Bhayani, and Claire M. Guehenno contributed to the reporting of this story.