Faculty
Compromising or Capitulating? Faculty Debate Whether Harvard Should Take a Trump Deal
As word emerged Friday evening that Harvard had restarted negotiations with the Trump administration to resolve their monthslong feud, several faculty members said they were alarmed by the prospect of striking a deal with the White House.
Harvard Social Science Dean Lawrence Bobo Steps Down, Will Be Replaced by Economist David Cutler
Harvard Dean of Social Science Lawrence D. Bobo will step down from his position and take a sabbatical for the 2025-26 academic year. He will be replaced by interim Social Science dean David M. Cutler for the next two years.
House Committee To Investigate Harvard’s Hiring Practices for Racial Discrimination
Nine Republican lawmakers on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce opened an investigation into Harvard’s faculty hiring practices on Tuesday, claiming Harvard may have violated federal employment discrimination law by considering race and gender.
With Trial Approaching, Harvard AAUP Asks Judge To Protect Noncitizen Witnesses in Trump Admin Lawsuit
The American Association of University Professors asked for a protective order on Wednesday to prevent the Trump administration from retaliating against noncitizen witnesses in its lawsuit over the White House’s immigration policies.
Harvard Celebrates, With Unity and Defiance, as Courtroom Battle Coincides With 374th Commencement
For the crowd at Harvard’s 374th Commencement, the day was shaped by a legal fight over the fate of Harvard’s international students that played out simultaneously with the ceremony — and by Harvard’s historic, high-stakes standoff with the Trump administration.
Judge Orders Release of HMS Researcher Kseniia Petrova From ICE Custody
A federal judge ordered the release of Kseniia Petrova, a Harvard Medical School researcher who has been fighting deportation proceedings for nearly three months, from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody at a Wednesday bail hearing in Vermont.
Can Harvard Bring Students’ Focus Back to the Classroom?
Harvard’s most vocal critics — and members of its faculty — have claimed that the University’s classes have gotten easier. Now, as Harvard moves to recenter academics in undergraduates’ lives, its students’ shifted priorities are posing a problem.
University Agrees to Remove Time Caps for Preceptors and Lecturers
Harvard negotiators offered to remove limits on lecturer and preceptor appointments in a contract proposal to the University’s non-tenure-track faculty union on Monday, a major victory for the union.
Experts Say Criminal Charges May Be a Bid To Convince HMS Researcher To Leave the U.S. Voluntarily
Immigration experts said the Trump administration’s decision to press criminal smuggling charges against Harvard Medical School researcher Kseniia Petrova may be an attempt to pressure the Russian citizen to voluntarily leave the country.
Harvard FAS Announces New Funding Program for Research Impacted by Trump Cuts
Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra announced a new program to fund senior and tenure-track FAS professors whose grants have been terminated by the Trump administration in a Friday message.
Scores of Researchers Receive Termination Notices After Federal Government Cuts Most Grants to Harvard
More than 100 Harvard researchers received termination notices for federally funded research projects on Thursday, as sweeping cuts to the majority of Harvard’s federal grants begin taking effect across the University’s labs.
Trump Admin Files Smuggling Charges Against Detained HMS Researcher, Plans To Deport Her To Russia
Government lawyers said the Trump administration plans to deport Kseniia Petrova, a Harvard Medical School researcher detained by Customs and Border Protection officials in February, to Russia at a Wednesday hearing.
Harvard FAS Professors Told To Prepare Contingency Plans for Budget Shortfalls
Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences professors were instructed to develop contingency plans for center and departmental spending budget shortfalls, according to five professors informed at two separate department meetings this week.
EEOC Launches Investigation Into Harvard’s Hiring Practices, Alleging Title VII Violations
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission launched an investigation into Harvard in late April, alleging that the University has engaged in discriminatory hiring practices in violation of Title VII since 2018, according to documents leaked to the Washington Free Beacon.
Former HKS Dean Joseph Nye Remembered as a Preeminent Scholar of International Relations
Nye, a towering scholar and policymaker who spent the last 60 years at the center of international security debates in Washington and Cambridge, died Tuesday. He was 88.
Harvard FAS Dean Hoekstra Tells Faculty to Prepare for Long-Term Funding Loss Under Trump
At a Tuesday meeting of Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, FAS Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra braced faculty for long-term changes amid what she acknowledged would be a drawn-out struggle with the Trump administration.
Non-Tenure-Track Faculty Rally Against Time Caps, Interrupt FAS Meeting
Armenian preceptor Lisa Gulesserian interrupted Tuesday’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences meeting to call on Harvard faculty to support an end to time caps after she was awarded a prize for excellence in teaching.
Far-Right Thinker Curtis Yarvin Argues for Remaking of Harvard at Faculty Club Debate
The far-right thinker Curtis Yarvin joined University Professor Danielle Allen for a debate Monday evening, where Yarvin in turn derided Harvard as “an essentially oligarchic institution” and suggested a reformed University could lie at the foundation of a new political order.
Ex-Harvard Chemist Charles Lieber Joins Chinese University
Former Harvard Chemistry professor Charles M. Lieber, who was convicted of lying to federal authorities about his ties to China in 2021, took a new job as a professor at a Chinese university last week.
Judge Denies Motion To Dismiss AAUP Lawsuit Against Trump Administration Immigration Policies
The Harvard chapter of the American Association of University Professors’s lawsuit against the federal government’s immigration policies will move forward despite the Trump administration’s motion to dismiss, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.
Across 500 Pages, Harvard Task Force Reports Detail Hostility on Campus and Urge Broad Policy Changes
Harvard’s twin task forces on combating bias toward Jewish, Israeli, Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian affiliates released their long-awaited reports on Tuesday afternoon — describing an atmosphere of fear and exclusion, as well as deep divisions over curricula, protests, and the scope of academic freedom.
Harvard Pauses Merit-Based Wage Raises in Latest Austerity Measure
Harvard has paused merit-based raises for faculty and non-union staff for the 2025-26 fiscal year, citing financial pressure in light of the White House’s funding siege.
New HGSE Dean Nonie Lesaux Faces a New World of Education. Faculty Say She’s Ready.
Nonie K. Lesaux had been a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education for more than two decades — nearly her entire professional career — by the time she was named dean in March.
3 Harvard Professors Win 2025 Breakthrough Prizes
Awarded annually, the Breakthrough Prize, often referred to as the “Oscars of Science,” seeks to “celebrate the wonders of our scientific age.” The foundation doled out $3 million to each winner in the Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics, and Mathematics categories this year.