Faust Appoints Acting Vice President for Administration

Thomas E. Vautin, Harvard's associate vice president for facilities and environmental services, will serve as acting vice president for administration starting July 1, University President Drew G. Faust announced Thursday.

Vautin will step into the interim role next month and oversee the University's eight administrative departments that provide basic services ranging from real estate management to facilities and maintenance operations once the current vice president Sally H. Zeckhauser—whose tenure spaned four Harvard presidencies—retires at the end of June. When Zeckhauser announced her retirement earlier this year, administrators declined to say whether a replacement would be named or whether the position would be discontinued.

After more than 30 years at the University, Vautin had initially accepted Harvard's early retirement package this spring, according to Harvard Magazine, but the University press release states that he now plans to retire sometime during the next academic year. Faust praised Vautin's "exceptional effectiveness and dedication" in the release and added that his staying on will provide "important continuity" as she embarks on the search for Harvard's next executive vice president. The recently created position is currently held by Goldman Sachs veteran Edward C. Forst '82, who announced his intention to step down on August 1 after less than a year to return to Wall Street.

"My primary objective will be to support the University during the transition of leadership within [Faust's] senior administration," Vautin said in the release, adding that he intends to fill the organizational gaps left by the 177 central administration staff members who opted to take the retirement package. "My personal goal will be to ensure that the VPA organization is fully engaged and ready to work with the new leadership."

Vautin has overseen the University Operations Services group since the mid 1990s. He also co-founded the Harvard Green Campus Initiative and more recently played a key role in orchestrating Harvard's response to the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza, commonly known as swine flu.

—Staff writer June Q. Wu can be reached at junewu@fas.harvard.edu.