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The Harvard Board of Overseers (more formally The Honorable and Reverend the Board of Overseers) is an advisory board of alumni at Harvard University. Unlike the Harvard Corporation, the Board of Overseers is not a fiduciary governing board, but instead "has the power of consent to certain actions of the Corporation." Formed in 1642, the Board of Overseers predates the Corporation's 1650 incorporation.

Overview and function

Today, there are 30 overseers, all directly elected by alumni, and in addition, both the President of Harvard University and the treasurer of Harvard serve as ex officio members of the board.

Each year, Harvard alumni elect five new overseers to serve six-year terms. Overseer candidates are nominated by the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA), and those not nominated by the HAA (petition candidates) must gather signatures from Harvard alumni to appear on the ballot.

According to the Harvard website, the Board of Overseers complements the work of the President and Fellows of Harvard College:

he Board exerts broad influence over the University’s strategic directions, provides counsel to the University leadership on priorities and plans, and has the power of consent to certain actions of the Corporation. The Board’s chief functions include superintendence of the visitation process, the principal mechanism for periodic external review of the quality and direction of the University’s schools, departments, and selected other programs and activities. The Board carries out this responsibility largely through the operation of more than fifty visiting committees, whose work is overseen by and reported to the Board.

History

Originally the overseers were self-perpetuating, and included, ex officio, the public officials and Puritan clergy of Cambridge and the neighboring towns, hence the "honorable and reverend" of the title. From 1851 to 1865, the fellows were appointed by the Massachusetts Legislature.

Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. quipped famously of the election of John F. Kennedy, his son, to the board in 1957: "Now I know his religion won't keep him out of the White House. If an Irish Catholic can get elected as an Overseer at Harvard, he can get elected to anything."

Petition candidates

In the late 1980s, a group calling for a withdrawal of Harvard's investments in apartheid South Africa helped nominate petition candidates for overseer elections. Known as the Harvard-Radcliffe Alumni Against Apartheid (HRAAA), this group supported the first petition candidate to win an overseer's seat. The HRAAA backed South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu in his successful bid to join the board in 1989, and future U.S. president Barack Obama's unsuccessful petition bid in 1991.

In 2020, Harvard Forward, a group calling for increased attention to climate change, including fossil fuel divestment, and representation of younger alumni on the Board, put forward a slate of five petition candidates. Three of the five were elected to the board: environmental scientist Jayson Toweh, civil rights attorney Thea Sebastian, and professional soccer player Margaret Purce. This was despite the efforts of leaders of the Harvard Alumni Association, who circulated a letter calling climate concerns "special interests" and suggesting that it was inappropriate for overseers candidates to state their views on university issues. Following the election of the three Harvard Forward candidates, the Board of Overseers and the Harvard Corporation changed the election rules in order to make it harder for petition candidates to be elected.

Current overseers

As of June 2024, the Overseers were:

• Modupe Akinola (2024–2030), Zalaznick Professor of Business and Faculty Director of the Bernstein Center for Leadership and Ethics, Columbia Business School
• Nworah Blaise Ayogu (2024–2030), Head of Healthcare Impact, Thrive Capital
• Monica Bharel (2022–2026), Public Health and Healthcare Strategist, Former Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health
• Raphael Bostic (2020–2026), President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
• Sylvia Mathews Burwell (2023–2029) President of American University
• Mark Carney (2021–2027), United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance, Former Governor, Bank of England and Bank of Canada
• Alice Chen (2019–2025), Deputy Secretary for Policy and Planning and Director of Clinical Affairs, California Health and Human Services Agency, and Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
• Theodore D. Chuang (2024–2030), U.S. District judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
• Sangu J. Delle (2022–2028), Chief Executive Officer, CarePoint
• Jeffrey Dunn (2023–2029) former interim president and CEO of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
• Danielle Feinberg (2024–2030) cinematographer; visual effects supervisor, Pixar Animation Studios
• Fiona Hill (2023–2029) – Chancellor of Durham University
• Christopher B. Howard (2021–2027), Executive VP and COO, Arizona State University Public Enterprise
• Vivian Hunt (2019–2025), Managing Partner, McKinsey & Company, United Kingdom & Ireland
• Tyler Jacks (2019–2025), Koch Professor of Biology and Director, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• John B. King Jr. (2019–2025), Chancellor of the State University of New York
• Vanessa Liu (2023–2029) Founder and CEO of Sugarwork
• Raymond Lohier (2021–2027), judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
• Lauren Ancel Meyers (2022–2028), Professor, Departments of Integrative Biology, Statistics & Data Sciences, Population Health, University of Texas at Austin
• Todd Y. Park (2022–2028), Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, Devoted Health
• Margaret Purce (2020–2026), Soccer player, United States Women's National Team and Gotham FC
• Megan Red Shirt-Shaw (2021–2027), Director of Native Student Services, University of South Dakota
• Robert L. Satcher (2023–2029), Associate professor of orthopedic oncology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
• Reshma Saujani (2019–2025), Founder and CEO, Girls Who Code
• Thea Sebastian (2020–2026), Policy Counsel, Civil Rights Corps
• Juan Antonio Sepúlveda Jr. (2024–2030), Calgaard Distinguished Professor of Practice in Political Science and President’s Special Adviser for Inclusive Excellence, Trinity University
• Vikas P. Sukhatme (2022–2028), Robert W. Woodruff Professor of Medicine and Dean, Emory School of Medicine Chief Academic Officer, Emory Healthcare
• Jayson Toweh (2020–2026), Doctoral Student and Researcher, Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources, Stanford University
• Wilhelmina Wright (2022–2028), Senior U.S. District Court judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota
• Sheryl WuDunn (2021–2027), Journalist and Author; Co-Founder, FullSky Partners
• Alan Garber, Interim President, Harvard University
• Timothy R. Barakett, Treasurer, Harvard University (ex officio)

References

1. "2.2. Harvard University Governance". Faculty of Medicine Handbook. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
2. University, Harvard. "Leadership and Governance". Harvard University. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
3. "Harvard's president and Leadership," harvard.edu, accessed 23 June 2012
4. Whitehead, John S (1972). The separation of college and state; the transformation of Columbia, Dartmouth, Harvard, and Yale from quasi-public to private institutions, 1776–1876 (Thesis). OCLC 864858.
5. O'Donnell, Kenneth P.; Powers, David F. (2013). 'Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye': Memories of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Open Road Media. ISBN 978-1-4804-3778-4.
6. Moses, Jonathan M. (October 6, 1986). "Seidman Takes Overseer Seat". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
7. "Divestment Opposition Persists Despite Tutu's Overseer Election". The Harvard Crimson. September 15, 1989. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
8. Kurilla, Michelle G.; Zhang, Ruoqi (February 7, 2020). "As New Candidates Move Forward, A Look Back at Previous Board of Overseers Campaigns". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
9. "Barack Obama of Harvard Law School—and Beyond". Harvard Magazine. November 5, 2008. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
10. Kurilla, Michelle G.; Zhang, Ruoqi (February 19, 2020). "All Five of Harvard Forward Candidates Listed on Board of Overseers Ballot". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
11. Rosenberg, John S. (August 21, 2020). "Insurgent Election". Harvard Magazine. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
12. Rosenberg, John S. (2020-08-10). "Board of Overseers Campaign Hotly Contested". Harvard Magazine. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
13. Rosenberg, John S. (2020-09-15). "Governing Boards Change Composition of Overseers". Harvard Magazine. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
14. "Board of Overseers".

External links

• Harvard University Board of Overseers Archived 2015-02-25 at the Wayback Machine
• Central Administration Governance of the University, from Office of the Provost

• 1642 establishments in the Massachusetts Bay Colony
• Organizations established in 1642
• Harvard University
• Governing bodies of universities and colleges in the United States