Grosz To Lead Radcliffe Institute

Computer scientist Barbara J. Grosz, dean of science at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, has been tapped to lead Radcliffe as interim dean, President-elect Drew G. Faust announced on Friday.

Grosz, the Higgins professor of natural sciences, will take office on July 1, replacing Faust, who will leave her current position as Radcliffe dean when she begins her term as president that same day.

Grosz, known for her work in the field of artificial intelligence, has served as dean of science at Radcliffe since its rebirth as a think tank in 2001. She has played a key role in building the school’s science fellowship programs.

“I have been impressed from day one with Barbara’s creativity, drive, and ability to move comfortably between the most esoteric realms of science and the practical challenges of building a program from the ground up,” Faust said in a statement on Friday. “Barbara has proved herself to be a leader, a manager, and an entrepreneur of particular vision and skill.”

The move marks the first of a series of crucial appointments for Faust. Before she takes office on July 1, Faust must appoint deans to lead the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), Harvard Medical School, and the Graduate School of Design, and she must also name a vice president for alumni affairs and development and an executive vice president.

Faust introduced Grosz as interim dean at a gathering of Radcliffe staff and fellows in the Radcliffe Gymnasium Friday morning.

In her prepared remarks at the event, Grosz said she was looking forward to building on the foundations laid by Faust as well as further integrating Radcliffe Yard with the rest of the University.

“I look forward greatly to...not only making Radcliffe stronger within, but also increasing its ties to other parts of Harvard and its role in the new ventures on which Harvard is embarking,” Grosz said, according to a copy of her remarks.

Faust said in an interview with The Crimson in February that the number of vacant deanships necessitated installing an interim dean at Radcliffe. With three other dean searches in the works, “it would be unwise to try to do a really serious national, international search for a Radcliffe dean this spring,” Faust said at the time.

“I think it’s very important for the second dean of the Radcliffe Institute to be chosen in a very broadly extended process where we look for someone who doesn’t just seem to be my pick,” Faust said in February. “It’s not usual to pick your successor so I would like to have a lot of input and a lot of thought about where Radcliffe should go.”

In 2005, Grosz chaired a task force focused on increasing the representation of women across the science and engineering fields in the wake of widespread criticism of comments made by then-University President Lawrence H. Summers. In a speech to an economics conference, Summers suggested that biological differences might partially account for the underrepresentation of females in the top tiers of those fields.

Grosz had been mentioned as a possible candidate for the deanship of FAS, the University’s flagship school. Faust has yet to name her pick for FAS, but a decision is expected within the next several weeks.

—Staff writer Claire M. Guehenno can be reached at guehenno@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Laurence H. M. Holland can be reached at lholland@fas.harvard.