Anand Named Vice Provost for Advances in Learning

Harvard Business School Professor Bharat N. Anand ’88 will be Harvard’s next vice provost for advances in learning, the University announced Tuesday.

Anand has served as the the faculty chair of HBX, the Business School’s digital learning initiative, since 2013 and participated in the program’s creation. In his new role, he will oversee programs like the online HarvardX platform and the Harvard Initiative for Teaching and Learning, which offers grants for education innovation.

Anand said in a statement that he is looking forward to his new position and the broad scope of opportunity in the field of improving higher education.

“Harvard has been a hotbed of innovations in pedagogy and learning during the last few years,” he said. “It’s a good time to take stock of what we’ve learned from these various projects and how this might inform our future efforts.”

Anand will succeed Peter K. Bol, who has served as the vice provost since the position was created five years ago. Bol, a professor of East Asian Languages, announced in January that he planned to step down at the end of the summer, but will remain at Harvard to continue his teaching and research.

Bol said in a statement that Anand was an “invaluable” advisor during Bol’s own tenure as vice provost, and that he is well-prepared for the role.

“I know of no one who has a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges of open-access online learning,” Bol said. “He had great success in establishing HBX as the very best platform for online business education.”

Anand is one of a number of appointments made this summer as Lawrence S. Bacow begins his term as the University’s 29th president, ushering in administrative turnover across the University. Earlier this month, the University announced Claudine Gay would serve as the next Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

—Staff writer Jamie D. Halper can be reached at jamie.halper@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @jamiedhalper.