President of Harvard University facts for kids

Quick facts for kids President of Harvard University
Incumbent Alan Garber since January 2, 2024 (2024-01-02)
Appointer	Harvard Corporation
Formation	1640 (1640)
First holder	Henry Dunster

The president of Harvard University is the main leader of Harvard University. This person also serves as the president of the Harvard Corporation. The other members of the Corporation choose the president. They trust the president to manage the university every day.

Harvard's current president is Alan Garber. He started his role on January 2, 2024. He took over after Claudine Gay resigned.

What the President Does

The president helps plan the future of Harvard University. They make important decisions about the university's direction. The president chooses the leaders, called deans, for different parts of the university. They also pick the university's provost, a top academic officer.

The president also decides which professors get tenure. This means professors get a permanent job. However, the president talks a lot with professors before making these big choices.

Lately, the president's job has become more about managing things. A big part of the job is now raising money for the university. Some people think this takes away from focusing on education.

Each president is also a professor. They sometimes teach classes at the university. Harvard provides a special house for the president to live in. From 1912 to 1971, it was President's House. Since then, it has been Elmwood.

How Presidents Have Influenced Education

Five Harvard University presidents, sitting in order of when they served. From left to right: Josiah Quincy III, Edward Everett, Jared Sparks, James Walker and Cornelius Conway Felton.

Harvard presidents have often changed how education works across the United States. For example, Charles W. Eliot created the idea of students choosing their own courses. This is common in many schools today.

James B. Conant helped bring in standardized tests. These tests are used to compare students' knowledge. Later, Derek Bok and Neil L. Rudenstine spoke about the importance of having many different kinds of students at universities. They believed in diversity in higher education.

History of Harvard's Leaders

When Harvard was first started, its leader was called a "schoolmaster." Nathaniel Eaton was the first. In 1640, Henry Dunster became the leader and was called "president."

Harvard was first created to train Puritan religious leaders. Because of this, most presidents until the late 1700s were religious figures.

Most presidents from 1672 to 1971 had graduated from Harvard College. After 1971, almost all presidents earned a graduate degree from Harvard. The only exception was Drew Gilpin Faust. She was the first president since the 1600s who did not have a degree from Harvard.

Presidents of Harvard

No.	Image	Presidents	Term of office	Length	Notes
–		Eaton, NathanielNathaniel Eaton	1637–1639	2 years	Called "schoolmaster" of Harvard College Removed from his position due to serious issues.
1		Dunster, HenryHenry Dunster	1640–1654	14 years, 1 month and 27 days	Left his role due to disagreements about religious practices.
2		Chauncy, CharlesCharles Chauncy	1654–1672	17 years, 3 months and 17 days	Died while in office.
3		Hoar, LeonardLeonard Hoar	1672–1675	2 years, 3 months and 5 days	Asked to resign.
4		Oakes, UrianUrian Oakes	1675–1680 (acting); 1680–1681	6 years, 3 months and 18 days (total); 4 years, 9 months and 26 days (acting); 1 year, 5 months and 23 days	Died while in office.
5		Rogers, JohnJohn Rogers	1682–1684	2 years, 3 months and 2 days	Died while in office.
6		Mather, IncreaseIncrease Mather	1685–1686 (acting); 1686–1692 (rector); 1692–1701	16 years and 18 days (total); 1 year and 12 days (acting); 6 years and 4 days (rector); 9 years and 2 days	Asked to resign.
–		Willard, SamuelSamuel Willard	1701–1707 (acting)	6 years and 6 days	Resigned due to illness.
7		Leverett, JohnJohn Leverett	1708–1724	16 years, 3 months and 19 days	First lawyer to be president. Died while in office.
8		Wadsworth, BenjaminBenjamin Wadsworth	1725–1737	11 years, 8 months and 9 days	Died while in office.
9		Holyoke, EdwardEdward Holyoke	1737–1769	32 years	At 79, he was the oldest president. Died while in office.
–		Winthrop, JohnJohn Winthrop	1769 (acting)		Did not want to be president permanently because of his age.
10		Locke, SamuelSamuel Locke	1770–1773	3 years, 6 months and 10 days	Resigned due to personal reasons.
–		Winthrop, JohnJohn Winthrop	1773–1774 (acting)		Again, did not want to be president permanently because of his age.
11		Langdon, SamuelSamuel Langdon	1774–1780	6 years, 1 month and 12 days	Students asked for his removal, and he resigned.
–		Wigglesworth, EdwardEdward Wigglesworth	1780–1781 (acting)
12		Willard, JosephJoseph Willard	1781–1804	23 years and 20 days	Died while in office.
–		Pearson, EliphaletEliphalet Pearson	1804–1806 (acting)		Served as acting president after Willard's death.
13		Webber, SamuelSamuel Webber	1806–1810	4 years, 2 months and 11 days	Died while in office.
–		Ware, HenryHenry Ware	1810 (acting)		Served as acting president after Webber's death.
14		Kirkland, John ThorntonJohn Thornton Kirkland	1810–1828	17 years, 4 months and 19 days	Resigned due to health issues and concerns about how money was managed.
–		Ware, HenryHenry Ware	1828-1829 (acting)		Served as acting president after Kirkland resigned.
15		Quincy III, JosiahJosiah Quincy III	1829–1845	16 years, 6 months and 29 days	Retired from his position.
16		Everett, EdwardEdward Everett	1846–1848	2 years, 11 months and 27 days	Resigned because he was not happy with the job. Later became a Secretary of State and a Senator.
17		Sparks, JaredJared Sparks	1849–1853	4 years and 9 days	Resigned because he was not happy with the job.
18		Walker, JamesJames Walker	1853–1860	6 years, 11 months and 16 days	Resigned due to arthritis.
19		Felton, Cornelius ConwayCornelius Conway Felton	1860–1862	2 years and 10 days	Died from a heart disease while traveling.
–		Peabody, Andrew PrestonAndrew Preston Peabody	1862 (acting)		Served as acting president after Felton's death.
20		Hill, ThomasThomas Hill	1862–1868	5 years, 11 months and 24 days	Resigned due to poor health.
–		Peabody, Andrew PrestonAndrew Preston Peabody	1868-1869 (acting)		Served as acting president after Hill resigned due to illness.
21		Eliot, Charles WilliamCharles William Eliot	1869–1909	40 years, 2 months and 7 days	At 35, he was the youngest president. He served the longest term (40 years).
22		Lowell, A. LawrenceA. Lawrence Lowell	1909–1933	24 years, 1 month and 2 days	Retired from his position.
23		Conant, James B.James B. Conant	1933–1953	19 years, 6 months and 22 days	Retired to become a high commissioner and later an ambassador for the U.S.
24		Pusey, NathanNathan Pusey	1953–1971	18 years and 29 days	He called the police during a student protest in 1969. He was criticized for this and announced his retirement in 1970.
25		Bok, DerekDerek Bok	1971–1991	19 years, 11 months and 29 days	Henry Rosovsky served as acting president when Bok was away.
26		Rudenstine, NeilNeil Rudenstine	1991–2001	9 years, 11 months and 29 days	Provost Albert Carnesale was acting president for three months when Rudenstine was on medical leave.
27		Summers, LawrenceLawrence Summers	2001–2006	4 years, 11 months and 29 days	First Jewish president. He had the shortest time in office since the Civil War. He resigned after disagreements with professors.
–		Bok, DerekDerek Bok	2006–2007 (interim)	11 months and 29 days	Served as acting president after Summers resigned.
28		Faust, Drew GilpinDrew Gilpin Faust	2007–2018	10 years, 11 months and 29 days	First female president.
29		Bacow, LawrenceLawrence Bacow	2018–2023	4 years, 11 months and 29 days	Retired from his position.
30		Gay, ClaudineClaudine Gay	2023–2024	6 months and 1 day	She was the shortest serving president. She resigned after facing challenges and questions about her past work. She was the first Black president.
31		Garber, AlanAlan Garber	2024–Present	1 year, 6 months and 24 days	He was first appointed as interim president after Gay's resignation. He was then permanently appointed as the 31st president until 2027.