Who is Claudine Gay? Harvard University appoints first Black president

Claudine Gay created history as she became the first Black president of Harvard University. On Thursday, December 15, 2022, The Harvard Gazette announced that Claudine Gay will be the University’s 30th president. Sharing the news on Instagram, Harvard stated:

“She is a dedicated educator and mentor whose courses have focused on topics including racial and ethnic politics in the U.S., Black politics in the post-Civil Rights era, American political behaviour, and democratic citizenship.”

Claudine has been working as the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in the Ivy League institution. Having a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in government from Harvard, she became the second woman in history to serve in the role at the esteemed university.

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Claudine Gay has been a part of the Harvard University Faculty since 2006

Claudine Gay’s appointment as the first Black president of Harvard University has been the talk of the town ever since the piece of information came out in The Harvard Gazette. The outlet also reported that Claudine Gay will take the place of the current president, Lawrence S. Bacow, after he announced in June 2022 that he would be stepping down.

Since then, people have been curious to learn more about Claudine Gay. Before joining the prestigious organization in 2006, Claudine served as an assistant professor and tenured associate professor at Stanford. Furthermore, she was also a Visiting Fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California for almost a year. Here, she worked immensely on voter participation in minority-dominated congressional districts.

The to-be president has completed her BA in economics with Honors and Distinction from Stanford University. She also received the Anna Laura Myers Prize for best senior thesis at the time. She also pursued her Ph.D. at Harvard in 1998, where she received the Toppan Prize for best dissertation in political science.

Apart from her formal education, she also has a scholarship as a fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard.

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“Claudine is a person of bedrock integrity”: Former President Bacow

As Lawrence S. Bacow announced he was stepping down from the post, Claudine is now ready to make her way to the president’s chair at Harvard University. Bacow had some pretty good thoughts about Claudine, which were published in The Harvard Gazette. He said:

“She is a terrific academic leader with a keen mind, great leadership and communication skills, excellent judgment, and a basic decency and kindness that will serve Harvard well. Perhaps most importantly, she commands the respect of all who know her and have worked with her.”

Claudine Gay also expressed her gratitude and exclaimed:

“I am humbled by the confidence that the governing boards have placed in me and by the prospect of succeeding President Bacow in leading this remarkable institution. It has been a privilege to work with Larry over the last five years. He has shown me that leadership isn’t about one person. It’s about all of us, moving forward together, and that’s a lesson I take with me into this next journey.”

Apart from her achievement of becoming the President of Harvard, Claudine is now the only black person to lead an Ivy League university in 2023. Moreover, Claudine Gay is now the second black woman ever to head one of these colleges.