Garber sheds interim title, will remain Harvard president into 2027

Harvard's highest governing board announced Friday that interim president Alan Garber will serve as the school's official president until the end of the 2026-27 academic year.

Garber, a former Harvard provost, took on interim leadership duties at Harvard in January this year following the resignation of Claudine Gay.

The Corporation said in a statement that Garber had done "an outstanding job leading Harvard through 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," Penny Pritzker, senior fellow of the board, said in a statement.

Garber's interim leadership coincided with a turbulent spring academic term that saw campus protests and demonstrations over the war in Gaza.

Among the qualities the Corporation highlighted — based on conversations and consultations with deans and many faculty and alumni, Pritzker said — were Garber's "thoughtful and balanced judgment," his "even temperament in turbulent times" and a "commitment to academic freedom and constructive dialogue."

The Corporation added that it plans to "launch a full and wide-ranging search" for Garber's successor in late spring or summer of 2026.

In his own statement, Garber expressed gratitude for the opportunity to serve as Harvard's president for the next three years. But he also acknowledged the tensions that have marked campus life over the past academic year.

"This is a challenging time, one of strong passions and strained bonds among us," he said, adding that he would do his "utmost to ensure that we continue to advance knowledge and drive discovery even as we work to mend the fabric of our community."

Garber, a 1976 Harvard graduate, economist and physician, was previously Harvard's longest-serving provost — where he oversaw all academic policies and activities across the university for more than 12 years — before stepping in as interim president.

He assumed that role during a time of intense scrutiny and turbulence at the university. Gay, the school's first Black and second female president, served for just six months in that role before she resigned following intense backlash over her testimony to Congress on campus antisemitism and allegations of plagiarism in her past academic writing.

Campus protests over the war in Gaza escalated by the spring semester, with pro-Palestinian student encampments forming across many university campuses. That set off tense standoffs between university administrators and student organizers. At Harvard, student occupation of Harvard Yard lasted for nearly three weeks before the encampment peacefully disbanded shortly before commencement.

Though Garber was acknowledged for his measured approach to the situation and avoiding involvement of law enforcement, ensuing sanctions against some student protestors, including the withholding of diplomas for graduating seniors, generated fresh criticism against decisions by university leadership and administration.

In recent months, Garber has put his stamp on Harvard's path forward with several new policy announcements, including a new stance that advises university leaders not to make official statements on controversial social and political issues and potential new restrictions on the use of signage, chalking and overnight camping on Harvard's campus, per the Harvard Crimson.

In his statement, Garber said he is "excited by the prospect of what we can achieve in these next years and will have more to say about our efforts on many fronts when the fall term begins."