Dear members of our FAS community,
Greetings from Cambridge!
In any other year, I would be holed up in my office with my lab notebooks, just back from field work, planning out projects and drafting research manuscripts with those precious blocks of time I can only seem to find in summer. Instead, I’m unpacking boxes in University Hall, and planning for the year ahead as the next dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
I always find this time of year exhilarating—imagining opportunities to learn and explore, and finding new paths to see where they might lead in the year ahead. As an undergraduate, I fell in love with the scientific process for exactly this reason—because it is a journey of discovery. As I step into this new role as FAS dean, that same curiosity and eagerness to learn propels me still, along with my deeply rooted belief that the work we do is in service to the world around us.
For me, Harvard has always been that place that advances knowledge not only by learning and teaching facts, but by valuing and fostering curiosity and wonder. It brings together people with different skills, backgrounds, and perspectives to expand understanding and uncover answers to urgent questions. Here, intellectual diversity drives academic excellence. We are a society confronting global challenges—from the myriad impacts of global climate change to the opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence—that call for responses bigger than any single discipline can deliver. Indeed, my professional identity over many years here has been shaped by my experience as a member of two departments and a museum and by building a fundamentally interdisciplinary research program.
I am very aware that I take on the role of dean in the middle of an urgent conversation about access to education, and the relationship between a diverse intellectual environment and continued academic excellence. I bring a profound sense of care and responsibility to steward what has made Harvard so distinctive and effective at its mission of creating, advancing, and sharing knowledge and preparing students to lead in their lives after Harvard. The stakes are high for getting this right. Keeping the unique ecosystem of Harvard strong and vibrant has never been more important to the world around us, and I’m excited for the opportunity to innovate as we imagine how best to ensure Harvard’s academic excellence for the generations to come.
Starting today, my Harvard world expands to reach across our full range of academic disciplines. This fall, I will crisscross our campus to listen and learn from colleagues, graduate students, and postdocs across our divisions and SEAS to understand the questions that motivate them, and the opportunities and challenges they see ahead; to listen to our undergraduates, to understand their educational journey as they begin to understand their unique life purpose; to hear from the staff, people without whom our teaching and research would not be possible, who bring passion and expertise to supporting our mission; and to connect with our alumni, whose commitment to our institution and its mission fuel our teaching and research.
I am so excited to meet you all and to get started in this important work.
With my best wishes as you enjoy these final weeks of summer,
Hopi
Hopi Hoekstra
Edgerley Family Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences
C. Y. Chan Professor of Arts and Sciences
Xiaomeng Tong and Yu Chen Professor of Life Sciences