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Lamont Appointed Senior Adviser on Faculty Development and Diversity
Cambridge, Mass.- December 8, 2008 - Michèle Lamont, a renowned scholar on racial and class boundaries in the United States and France, has been named Senior Adviser on Faculty Development and Diversity in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard. The appointment is effective January 28, 2009.
In making the announcement, FAS Dean Michael D. Smith said, "As a well respected scholar in the areas of inequality, culture and race, Professor Lamont is ideally suited for this role. In her forthcoming book How Professors Think, she explores how scholars combine excellence and diversity in academic evaluation. While we have made some progress in the area of faculty diversity, it is clear that we have so much more to do. I am very pleased that Michèle has agreed to take on the very important duties of the Senior Adviser. I look forward to working with her and receiving her thoughtful advice."
The Senior Adviser on Faculty Development and Diversity advises the dean, divisional deans, and the Faculty as a whole on matters related to gender, racial, and ethnic diversity in the FAS. She will also advise the dean on new FAS policies and appropriate metrics for achieving and measuring progress related to faculty development and diversity, and will lead the implementation efforts in faculty development and diversity. Further, she will monitor the effectiveness of the FAS faculty diversity programs, and work closely with the Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Development and Diversity on University-wide efforts.
"Michèle is the perfect choice for this leadership position," said Judith Singer, Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Development and Diversity. "She brings a wealth of expertise on issues of diversity and equality as well as great energy and enthusiasm for making measurable progress in these important domains. I'm looking forward to working closely with her on our University-wide efforts to sustain Harvard's excellence while increasing its diversity."
Lamont, who teaches such courses as Racism and Anti-Racism in Comparative Perspective, and Selected Topics in Culture and Inequality, arrived at Harvard in 2003 after spending 15 years on the faculty at Princeton University. She is the Robert I. Goldman Professor of European Studies and Professor of Sociology and African and African American Studies, and she serves on the executive committees of the Center for European Studies, the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, and the Multidisciplinary Program in Inequality and Social Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Lamont has also written extensively about issues related to race, inequality, culture, immigration, knowledge, qualitative methods, and comparative sociology. Her works include The Dignity of Working Men: Morality and the Boundaries of Race, Class, and Immigration (Harvard University Press, 2000), Money, Morals, and Manner: The Culture of the French and the American Upper-Middle Class (University of Chicago Press, 1992), Rethinking Comparative Cultural Sociology: Repertoires of Evaluation in France and the United States, editor with Laurent Thévenot (Cambridge University Press, 2000), The Cultural Territories of Race: Black and White Boundaries, editor, (Russell Sage Foundation, 1999), The Evaluation of Systematic Qualitative Research in the Social Sciences, edited with Patricia White (National Science Foundation, forthcoming), Successful Societies: How Institutions and Culture Matter for Health, editor with Peter A. Hall (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming), and How Professors Think: Inside the Curious World of Academic Judgment (Harvard University Press, forthcoming).
Lamont received her doctorate degree from the Université Paris in 1983. She also holds a B.A. and M.A. in political science from Ottawa University.
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