Harvard Hires Construction VP

Mark R. Johnson, a veteran Harvard administrator, has been named Harvard’s new vice president for Capital Planning and Project Management, a position created this summer to consolidate several planning offices that oversee Harvard’s construction efforts, University officials announced yesterday.

Johnson, who will step down as Harvard Law School’s director of major capital projects and physical planning, will oversee University construction projects, including Allston expansion plans.

In his new role, Johnson will report to Executive Vice President Katherine N. Lapp and will review the findings of the Allston Work Team, which has been charged with shaping the University’s future in Allston.

The announcement follows statements by University officials earlier to present the Work Team’s recommendations by mid-2011. But it remains unclear how concrete the team’s findings will be.

Though the University halted construction on its $1-billion science complex in Allston in Dec. 2009, Harvard plans to start construction on smaller projects, such as an executive education building in Allston and an innovation lab in the old WGBH building on Western Ave.

“My first order of business is to learn about the data the Work Team has been gathering,” Johnson said.

University administrators consolidated Harvard’s planning offices last summer by combining the Allston Development Group and the University Planning office, two separate entities that were both in charge of overseeing construction.

Johnson first came to work for the University in 2002, as a senior construction project manager at Harvard Business School, where he managed the construction of the Baker Library and Bloomberg Center, completed in 2005.

He also oversaw the construction of the Northwest Corner building on the Law School’s campus, a major project that will add classroom and office space to the school.

Johnson said in an interview yesterday that his previous experience with University capital projects has taught him the importance of working closely with the communities affected by any expansions.

Allston residents, however, have repeatedly said they feel shut out of the planning process for the University’s construction project in their neighborhood.

—Staff writer Elias J. Groll can be reached at egroll@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Sofia E. Groopman can be reached at segroopm@fas.harvard.edu.