The Interim Tag Gone, Harvard’s Band-Aid Presidency Begins

Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 no longer has the interim title, but he is still the interim president in almost every other way.

Harvard Corporation Senior Fellow Penny S. Pritzker ’81 named Garber to a three-year term as the University’s 31st president on Friday, with a search for the University’s 32nd president to launch in 2026.

The appointment solidifies his tenure as a bridge presidency. Garber has a mandate from the Corporation to guide Harvard out of the storm and into calmer waters — and he has three years to do it.

Richard P. Chait, a professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education who has advised the University’s governing boards, said in an interview that Garber’s presidency will be “perfect to reposition the University.”

“And a way, frankly, to time when the college presidency becomes a more attractive proposition for more people,” he added.

The end date of Garber’s presidency, on June 30, 2027, sets his tenure apart from that of almost every other Harvard leader in recent memory. Most past presidents of Harvard served without term limits and were allowed to determine their own retirement, but Garber, 69, is now a lame duck president from Day 1.

The idea behind keeping Garber at the helm of the University is that he will have enough time over the next three years to execute his plan for fixing Harvard, which includes making the most prestigious job in higher education appealing again.

Former University President Lawrence S. Bacow said that Garber’s appointment gives Harvard “continuity at a time where the institution really needs it.”

“We also should recognize that this would not be an ideal time to try and recruit a new president,” Bacow added.

The Corporation will now have roughly two years to conduct an extensive review of the University’s presidential search process in preparation for recruiting Garber’s successor.

Many affiliates have criticized past presidential searches as too opaque and insular. The Corporation’s most recent search — which ended in the selection of former Harvard President Claudine Gay — also faced backlash from some critics who faulted the governing boards for moving too quickly and not conducting a review of Gay’s academic record.

The extended timeline to appoint Garber’s successor will also take some public pressure off of Pritzker, who many held responsible for the leadership crisis that ensued following Gay’s resignation.

Pritzker refused to step down from her role in the immediate aftermath of Gay’s resignation, but the launch of another presidential search could have brought back the media spotlight that the Corporation has been desperate to avoid.

Several of the high profile decisions that landed Harvard in hot water — from threatening to sue the New York Post for defamation over Gay’s plagiarism allegations to relying on lawyers during the disastrous congressional testimony in December — rested with Pritzker and the Corporation.

The decision to launch the next search in 2026 is also a gamble for the Corporation as they are effectively betting that the two years from now will be a better time to pick a University president — both for those who aspire to be candidates and for those tasked with searching for them.

“I think the Corporation was looking at the University in a very turbulent period of time, and with a significant probability of times getting even more turbulent in short order, depending on how the election would turn out,” said Paul Reville, a professor of education policy and administration at the HGSE.

Many University insiders praised Garber’s appointment and the move to delay the next search process.

Former University President Neil L. Rudenstine, who served from 1991 to 2001, called the Corporation’s decision “very thoughtful and wise.”

“We need to see how Alan himself manages these next couple of years,” Rudenstine said. “And I expect that will be very well, but it's premature to think about the next step yet.”

Garber's priorities in the next three years will likely include policy changes in response to the recommendations from the antisemitism and anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bias task forces, as well as navigating a contentious congressional investigation and reassuring frustrated donors and alumni.

But his decisions about what policies to adopt and what statements to make, especially after vowing to avoid statements on controversies entirely, will undoubtedly anger some affiliates and external critics.

“There seems as if there will always be some segment of the population — some sub-constituency — that’s disgruntled about some issue,” Chait said.

“A university president today is going to come under attack from someone,” he added. “It’s just that simple.”

Even before the University could make a final announcement, the initial recommendations from his presidential task forces were slammed by some Republicans in Congress as “weak” and inferior to a set of recommendations Gay received from her antisemitism advisory group in November 2023.

Still, Garber’s limited tenure will give him some additional insulation from backlash to unpopular decisions as he will already be on his way out of office.

Reville said that Garber now has a “fair open pathway to enacting things he wants to do.”

“Frankly, in his interim period, he's been moving forward in much the same fashion as a president would because that’s what these times demanded,” Reville added.

Former University President Derek C. Bok — the last person to serve as an interim Harvard president prior to Garber — noted that while the Corporation’s announcement set a start time for the next presidential search, it “does not foreclose extending the time.”

“If, at that time, the problems remain and Alan remains the best person by virtue of knowledge and ability to deal with them, I would assume his time of service would be extended,” Bok said. “But it’s good to start out with a pretty clear idea of ‘How long do we think this is going to last?’ given rather exceptional circumstances.”

“You don’t find many presidents appointed at his age,” Bok added. “There is a reason for that.”

—Staff writers William C. Mao, Veronica H. Paulus and Saketh Sundar contributed reporting.

—Staff writer Emma H. Haidar can be reached at emma.haidar@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @HaidarEmma.

—Staff writer Cam E. Kettles can be reached at cam.kettles@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @cam_kettles or on Threads @camkettles.