David Hunter named acting Harvard Chan School Dean

David Hunter

Dear Members of the Harvard Chan School Community,

May 19, 2015 — As you know, Julio Frenk recently announced his plans to step down as Dean of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health this August [2015] in order to become President of the University of Miami. Julio’s leadership has greatly benefited the school, and I am deeply committed to identifying an outstanding successor to guide the school forward.

I am pleased to let you know that David Hunter, Dean for Academic Affairs and the Vincent L. Gregory Professor in Cancer Prevention, has kindly agreed to serve as acting dean from the time Julio takes office in Miami (August 16) until a new dean is in place. As many of you know, David is a deeply experienced and much-admired faculty member who has played an essential role in the school’s recent accomplishments, and I am very grateful to him for his willingness to lead the school and sustain its forward momentum while the dean search proceeds.

Following Harvard’s usual practice, I have invited a cross-section of the Harvard Chan School’s senior faculty to work with me as an advisory group for the search, including several faculty members who have joint or primary appointments in other parts of Harvard.  I am grateful to the following colleagues for agreeing to serve:  David Bangsberg, Lisa Berkman, Robert Blendon, David Cutler, Wafaie Fawzi, Russ Hauser, Gökhan Hotamisligil, Paula Johnson, Howard Koh, Jennifer Leaning, Xihong Lin, Marc Lipsitch, and Marianne Wessling-Resnick.  We will meet regularly in the time ahead both to consider the opportunities and challenges facing the Harvard Chan School and to discuss prospective candidates for dean.

The advisory group’s work will be part of a wider outreach process to which I hope many of you will contribute.  Provost Garber and I will be pursuing opportunities to solicit advice from the broader faculty, students, staff, alumni, and knowledgeable others.  I know from past dean searches how much we will benefit from such informed, candid counsel.  With that in mind, I encourage you to send me your thoughts about the Harvard Chan School and its future, about the key qualities to seek in a new dean, and about individuals at Harvard or elsewhere whom you believe should be considered as possible candidates for dean.  You may send your observations and nominations, in confidence, by e-mail to sphdeansearch@harvard.edu or by letter addressed to me at Massachusetts Hall.  I will read all your thoughts with interest and care.

Thank you in advance for your advice at this important moment of transition and opportunity for our remarkable and dynamic School of Public Health.

Sincerely,

Drew Faust

photo: Kent Dayton