Garber Announces Advisory Committee for Harvard Law School Dean Search

Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 formed a 13-member faculty advisory committee to provide input on the search for Harvard Law School’s next dean, the University announced on Thursday.

The announcement of the faculty advisory committee marks the first public update about the status of the HLS dean search since University Provost John F. Manning ’82 was permanently appointed to the role in August.

Garber missed his initial September deadline to officially launch the search process and then waited until the final day of October before sending an email to HLS affiliates unveiling the advisory committee.

Ten members of the advisory committee are HLS professors, including Sabrineh Ardalan, Christopher T. Bavitz, Jared A. Ellias, Richard H. Fallon Jr., Jeannie Suk Gersen, Annette Gordon-Reed, Elizabeth Papp Kamali ’97, Stephen E. Sachs ’02, Laura M. Weinrib ’00, and Crystal S. Yang ’08.

Three non-HLS professors are also serving on the advisory committee, including Harvard Business School Dean Srikant M. Datar and Graduate School of Design Dean Sarah M. Whiting. Harvard Kennedy School professor Meghan L. O’Sullivan, who also serves as the director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, rounds out the committee as the sole HKS representative.

Datar and O’Sullivan both previously served on the faculty advisory committee that helped select HKS Dean Jeremy M. Weinstein, one of the first major appointments of Garber’s tenure. Whiting previously chaired three advisory committees during her tenure at Rice University.

The advisory committee notably did not include any of the leading internal candidates to permanently succeed Manning in the role. John C. P. Goldberg has served as interim HLS dean since March when Manning first departed for Massachusetts Hall, and several faculty members have voiced support for keeping Goldberg at the helm of the school.

Other potential dean search candidates are also absent from the committee, including deputy deans I. Glenn Cohen and Maureen E. “Molly” Brady ’08 as well as vice dean David B. Wilkins ’77.

In his announcement, Garber wrote that the committee “will advise us on the challenges and opportunities facing the School and the qualities to look for in its next dean.”

Garber included an email address, online form, and postal address for HLS affiliates to submit “written input and nominations of individuals, whether internal or external” for the deanship. If HLS were to name an external candidate to the deanship, it would break more than a century-long precedent of appointing internal candidates.

Garber also announced forthcoming meetings with faculty, students, and alumni to gather their input into the dean search. In the 2017 dean search, former President Drew Gilpin Faust held student forums after students demanded a larger role in the search process.

Garber’s message did not provide specific details for his iteration of these meetings.

But some HLS student groups have already provided their input. The HLS Black Law Students Association endorsed Wilkins, and former Winthrop House Faculty Deans Ronald S. Sullivan Jr. and Stephanie R. Robinson in September.

Garber wrote in his email on Thursday that “leadership transitions present us with a valuable opportunity to reflect on the past and explore possibilities for the future.”

“Identifying the right leader for the Law School is a top priority for Provost Manning and me,” he wrote.

—Staff writer S. Mac Healey can be reached at mac.healey@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @MacHealey.

—Staff writer Saketh Sundar can be reached at saketh.sundar@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @saketh_sundar.