Introducing: Dr. Alan Garber

Harvard Provost Alan M. Garber ’76, who has served in his role since 2011, became Harvard’s interim president following Claudine Gay’s resignation on Tuesday.

Garber, an economist and physician who has served as provost under three successive Harvard presidents, will bring an insider’s outlook and years of administrative experience to the role at a moment of immense uncertainty, with Gay’s resignation capping off a semester of scandals and crises across the University.

The elevation of Garber suggests a desire from the Harvard Corporation, Harvard’s top governing body, to install a steady hand at the top of the University as it launches its second presidential search in less than three years under national scrutiny.

“We are fortunate to have someone of Alan’s broad and deep experience, incisive judgment, collaborative style, and extraordinary institutional knowledge to carry forward key priorities and to guide the university through this interim period,” the Corporation wrote in an email to affiliates Tuesday.

As students return to campus at the end of January, Garber will be tasked with mending divisions on campus fueled by the Israel-Hamas war and exacerbated by national backlash against both Gay and pro-Palestine student organizers.

Raised by a Jewish family, Garber expressed regret about the University’s initial response to the war in Israel and Gaza during an interview with The Crimson in November, calling the backlash to the University’s response the most serious crisis Harvard has faced during his over 12 year tenure — including the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I certainly have regrets about the first statement,” he said. “Our goal is to ensure that our community is safe, secure, and feels well supported — and that first statement did not succeed in that regard.”

In October, Garber addressed Harvard Hillel over Shabbat dinner where he emphasized the importance of free speech and condemned the use of the pro-Palestine slogan “from the river to the sea.”

In a statement to The Crimson Tuesday, Garber wrote that he had “deep respect and admiration” for Gay and hoped his tenure as interm president would help “heal and strengthen a university that I cherish.”