Harvard Social Science dean Lawrence Bobo steps down: David Cutler to function interim dean by way of 2027
Harvard’s College of Arts and Sciences (FAS) is present process a management shakeup at a vital second. Lawrence D. Bobo, Dean of Social Science since 2018, will step down from his function and take a sabbatical through the 2025–26 tutorial 12 months. The choice, confirmed in an inner communication by FAS Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra, comes after Bobo took an unplanned depart in spring 2025 as a consequence of private causes. His departure marks the tip of a six-year tenure that blended administrative management with moments of sharp debate inside the college.In Bobo’s absence, famous economist and public coverage skilled David M. Cutler ’87, who stepped in as interim dean earlier this 12 months, will stay within the function for 2 extra tutorial years. A proper search to nominate a everlasting dean will start in fall 2026, extending Cutler’s interim time period by way of mid-2027.
Price range pressures develop
The timing of this management transition is critical. FAS is presently navigating a interval of fiscal restraint, triggered partly by federal scrutiny underneath the Trump administration and broader pressures on college funding. In response, the varsity has frozen spending on non-essential capital tasks and instructed departments to maintain budgets flat for fiscal 12 months 2026.College have been directed to develop contingency plans within the face of anticipated shortfalls, with the Social Science division requested particularly to arrange for a doable 20% reduce. As interim dean, Cutler has taken on the tough process of main these conversations, turning into the messenger for each structural reform and unpopular choices.In March 2025, he introduced the elimination of senior management on the Middle for Center Jap Research, a transfer that drew consideration each for its administrative implications and for the school tensions it mirrored. With deep roots in Harvard’s governance, Cutler brings institutional data, coverage expertise, and tutorial management from prior roles, together with his tenure as divisional dean from 2003 to 2008.His background in well being economics and public coverage—together with roles advising Presidents Clinton and Obama and shaping the Inexpensive Care Act—has made him a well-regarded determine throughout a number of faculties inside Harvard, together with the Kennedy Faculty and Faculty of Public Well being.
Bobo’s tenure and legacy
Lawrence Bobo’s management of the Social Science division was formed by each tutorial progress and inner disagreement. A revered scholar of sociology and African and African American Research, Bobo centered on reinforcing analysis excellence and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration. His time as dean was marked by an emphasis on racial fairness in scholarship, departmental progress, and engagement with undergraduates.Nevertheless, his tenure was not with out battle. Bobo drew criticism from college friends for suggesting that some types of tutorial speech needs to be topic to institutional limits. Many argued that such proposals threatened Harvard’s custom of educational freedom. Moreover, he opposed efforts to create a college senate—a transfer seen by some as needed to extend college voice in college governance. Bobo maintained that the prevailing governing buildings, notably the Harvard Company, ought to as an alternative be reformed to incorporate extra college engagement.Regardless of the tensions, Bobo’s affect on the division is considered as substantial. He performed a central function in navigating the early phases of post-pandemic tutorial planning and helped maintain programmatic momentum throughout a politically charged and financially unsure interval.As Harvard strikes into a brand new chapter of administrative planning and cost-cutting, the continuation of Cutler’s interim management is anticipated to supply each stability and strategic oversight. With the social sciences going through exterior pressures and inner requires reform, the subsequent two years shall be vital in shaping the long run route of the division—and the kind of management it’s going to require subsequent.
