In Memoriam: Carol Clancey Harter, 1941-2023

Carol Harter, the longest-serving president of the University of Nevada Las Vegas, died on September 14. She was 82 years old.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, she enrolled at what is now Binghamton University of the State University of New York with a desire to major in chemistry. The dean of students at the university, who was a woman, told Harter that “women don’t do chemistry.” She went on the earn bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in English literature.

After serving on the faculty and later as vice president and dean of students at Ohio University, Dr. Harter was named president of the State University of New York at Geneseo. She became the first woman president of UNLV in 1995 and served in that role for 11 years. During her tenure, there were 100 new degree programs, including 60 at the graduate level.

In July 2006, Dr. Harter stepped down to assume executive responsibilities at the newly formed Black Mountain Institute at UNLV, an international think tank dedicated to advancing literary and cross-cultural dialogue.