Dr. Alan Garber, an economist and Jewish physician, has been appointed as the interim president of Harvard University, replacing Dr. Claudine Gay, who resigned just three months into her tumultuous tenure. Garber has previously served as the head of the prestigious institution and the chief academic officer, and his appointment was widely accepted with a broad consensus.
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Dr. Garber, 69, holds a doctorate in economics from Harvard and a medical degree from Stanford. He is a member of the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Medicine.
Lawrence Summers, former president of Harvard and former U.S. Treasury Secretary, said that Dr. Garber “is universally liked, admired, and respected, and is a superb choice as interim president.”
In an interview with the university's student newspaper The Harvard Crimson, Dr. Garber expressed regret over Harvard's initial response to the Hamas’ attack on October 7 and the beginning of the war in Gaza.
As mentioned, Garber will temporarily replace Gay who had faced pressure to resign from Harvard's Jewish community and some members of the U.S. Congress over her comments at the Dec. 5 congressional hearing, and she has also faced several allegations of plagiarism for her academic work in recent months.