Harvard appoints Alan Garber as president through 2026-27 academic year

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Harvard University announced Friday that its interim president Alan Garber will serve as president of the school through the end of the 2026-27 academic year.

The university plans to launch a search for his successor in the late spring or summer of 2026. Garber has served as interim president since January 2, when former president Claudine Gay resigned after facing backlash over her congressional testimony about antisemitism on campus as well as plagiarism accusations.

Penny Pritzker, senior fellow of the Harvard Corporation, wrote in a message to the campus that after serving as Harvard’s provost for more than twelve years, Garber did an outstanding job leading the school through what she described as extraordinary challenges.

“We have asked him to hold the title of president, not just interim president, both to recognize his distinguished service to the University and to underscore our belief that this is a time not merely for steady stewardship but for active, engaged leadership,” Pritzker wrote.

Garber helped shepherd the school during a time of deep divisions. Harvard was one of a number of colleges where students participated in a wave of pro-Palestinian tent encampments protesting the war in Gaza.

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The divisions raised concerns about antisemitism and anti-Muslim bias at the school.

In June, two task forces charged with proposing ways to combat antisemitisim, as well as anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, and anti-Palestinian bias at Harvard delivered preliminary recommendations to Garber. The recommendations focused on more than a dozen areas where the school can act quickly, officials said.

At the school’s commencement in May, hundreds of students in graduation robes walked out of the ceremonies chanting “Free, free Palestine” after weeks of protests on campus. The day prior, the school announced that 13 Harvard students who participated in the protest encampment would not be able to receive diplomas alongside their classmates.

In a written message to the Harvard community Friday, Garber said serving as the school’s leader has been a privilege and pointed to some of the school’s priorities including the value of knowledge, the power of teaching and research, and how the university’s accomplishments can benefit society.

“Our work now is to focus on them with renewed vigor, rededicating ourselves to academic excellence. That excellence is made possible by the free exchange of ideas, open inquiry, creativity, empathy, and constructive dialogue among people with diverse backgrounds and views,” he added. “I know that we are capable of finding our way forward together.”

Garber served as Harvard provost from 2011 until January of this year, when he was named interim president. Garber holds faculty appointments in medicine, economics, government and public health, according to the university.