University President Lawrence Bacow will next year join the Harvard Graduate School of Education's (HGSE) Higher Education Master's Program as its president-in-residence, a position that gives students the opportunity to learn from former university presidents.
The president-in-residence, in a one-year commitment, serves as a mentor to students pursuing careers in higher education. Bacow will succeed Robert Oden, a former president of Carlton and Kenyon Colleges, in the position.
Bacow told the Daily in an interview last month about his intention to take the position. He said that, upon his departure from Tufts, he will also be involved in several research endeavors and intends to return to teaching. He did not elaborate further on his plans.
Higher Education Program Director Judith McLaughlin chooses the president-in-residence personally. She reached out to Bacow about assuming the role at the conclusion of his tenure at Tufts in the summer.
"He will sit in on a class that I teach," McLaughlin told the Daily in an interview. "On some days he will be … a participant in the class and some days be at the front … in a teaching role."
The president-in-residence is also meant to be available to provide career advice and aid students with their research, according to McLaughlin.
This position marks a continuation of Bacow's extensive involvement with HGSE.
Bacow has in past worked for HGSE as a faculty member on the graduate school's executive education programs, including the Harvard Seminar for New Presidents, Crisis Leadership in Higher Education and the Institute for Educational Management, according to McLaughlin.
"In all of these programs, he has received extraordinary reviews for his teaching," McLaughlin said in an e-mail to the Daily. "We are thrilled that he will be joining us in a greater capacity."
In selecting a president-in-residence, McLaughlin said that she considers candidates for the position who can give an evenhanded account of the realities of running a university.
"I want someone who can talk candidly with students about the challenges. … I don't want only someone who can talk about the successes," she said. "The ideal person is someone who can understand the complexities of decision making in higher education and be candid about mistakes made [and] lessons learned."
Laura Shapiro, Tufts assistant director of admissions, in 2009 completed the Harvard Higher Education Program. She expects Bacow to succeed in what she called an indispensible part of the program.
"I think having any one available to participate in a class … who's had the advantage of a life in higher education is going to change the nature of the conversation, and that made it really … rich and really interesting," Shapiro said. "That's probably something that Larry will be very good at."
McLaughlin said that the position is designed for university presidents interested in remaining active after leaving their posts.
"It's a position that is occupied by someone who is a person who has stepped down from the presidency recently," she said.
Diana Chapman Walsh, president emerita of Wellesley College and a former president-in-residence at the program, said that the position also benefits presidents who do not want to end the instructive relationship with students that they had experienced as university presidents.
"One of the things that's hard about leaving the presidency is leaving the students … and that's sort of a rupture," Walsh said. "It's a wonderful experience, since it was spent with students considering a career in higher education."
Associate Director of Tufts Admissions Matthew Hyde, who in 2005 participated in Harvard's Higher Education Program, said that access to a former university president helps the program's students form connections in the field of higher education.
"As we're trying to figure out different questions with our own work, we also have the network of someone who was a sitting president," he said.
Hyde added that it would be beneficial to learn from the experiences of former university presidents.
"I think the president of a university is such a dynamic job that to really understand the complexities of the university, to have someone who has dealt with these issues was really helpful," Hyde said.
Bacow will be an energizing addition to the program, Hyde said.
"I think he's done such a brilliant job at Tufts that he has a lot to share in helping Tufts realize its potential," Hyde said. "He's just so inviting and approachable that he's a great addition, and I think he's going to really turbo-charge the program."
McLaughlin hopes that Bacow will continue on at HGSE in other capacities following his tenure as president-in-residence.
"We're hopeful that perhaps we can have him stay on beyond that," she said.
