Claudine Gay announced on January 2 that she is stepping down as Harvard University president. Dr. Gay had served as president for only six months. She was the first African American and the second woman to lead Harvard in its nearly 400-year history.
The resignation came after Dr. Gay faced harsh criticism from many members of the Harvard community for her handling of anti-Semitism on campus and for her testimony before Congress on the issue. Dr. Gay also was accused of plagiarism in her Ph.D. dissertation and in some published works.
“This is not a decision I came to easily,” Dr. Gay said in a message to the Harvard community. “I have looked forward to working with so many of you to advance the commitment to academic excellence that has propelled this great University across centuries. It has become clear that it is in the best interests of Harvard for me to resign so that our community can navigate this moment of extraordinary challenge with a focus on the institution rather than any individual.”
Dr. Gay served as an assistant professor and then tenured associate professor at Stanford University before being recruited to Harvard in 2006 as a professor of government. She was also appointed a professor of African and African American Studies in 2007. In 2015, Dr. Gay was named the Wilbur A. Cowett Professor of Government. In 2018, Dr. Gay was named the Edgerley Family Dean of Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
Dr. Gay is recognized as a highly influential expert on American political participation. Her research and teaching explore how various social and economic factors shape political views and voting behavior. She is the co-editor of Outsiders No More?: Models of Immigrant Political Incorporation (Oxford University Press, 2013).
The daughter of Haitian immigrants, Dr. Gay grew up in New York and Saudi Arabia, where her father worked for the Army Corps of Engineers. Dr. Gay received her bachelor’s degree in 1992 from Stanford University, where she majored in economics. She received a Ph.D. in government from Harvard University.
Dr. Gay will return to the Harvard faculty, where she has served as a professor of government since 2006.