Dear Members of the Harvard Chan School Community,
Tomorrow is a special day for Harvard, as we officially mark the inauguration of Claudine Gay as the University’s 30th president.
I hope you had a chance to watch this wonderful video of Claudine talking about her leadership style, her vision for Harvard, her advice for students…and, yes, the transformative power of Beyoncé.
Claudine has pledged to use her position to push Harvard to engage more deeply with the world beyond our walls and to lean more intentionally into service with the goal of helping all people thrive. That mission is very familiar to all of us in public health, and I look forward to working with Claudine and with all of you to fulfill its promise.
I encourage you to take time on Friday to participate in the festivities surrounding this historic inauguration. The day starts with an academic symposium exploring critical challenges of our time. Kari Nadeau, the chair of our Environmental Health department, will moderate a panel on climate change, with participation from Associate Professor Tamarra James-Todd. And our colleague Sara Bleich, now the University’s vice provost for special projects, will moderate a panel on inequality.
At 2 pm on Friday, our entire community is invited to gather in the Kresge atrium with students, faculty, and staff from Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Dental Medicine to enjoy light refreshments and watch the livestream of the inauguration ceremony. If you are planning to attend this event, please make sure to register by today.
I’ll close with one more invitation: Whether or not you’ve pre-registered, please take a few minutes to join our Harvard Chan Community Day of Service on Monday. Donation boxes for our clothing and book drives will be available in the Kresge atrium and we’ll have supplies set out for drop-in activities from 2:30 to 4:30 pm. It’s a wonderful way to take a small but meaningful step toward our vision of a world with health, dignity, and justice for all.
Warmly,
Jane
Jane J. Kim, SM ’01, PhD ’05
Interim Dean of the Faculty
Dean for Academic Affairs
K.T. Li Professor of Health Economics
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
