Dear FAS community,
I am truly delighted to announce that Jeff Lichtman, Jeremy R. Knowles Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Santiago Ramón y Cajal Professor of Arts and Sciences, will serve as the next Divisional Dean of Science. His tenure in this role will begin on July 1, 2024.
Throughout his career, Jeff has sought to unravel the mysteries of the brain. Like the Human Genome Project cataloged every human gene and its unique DNA sequence, Jeff’s lab seeks to create a “connectome,” or a comprehensive diagram of every neural connection in the brain. His research has focused on the dramatic re-wiring of neural connections that takes place in early postnatal mammalian development, a time when animals are doing most of their learning. By examining various time points in relation to critical periods of behavioral development and comparing healthy brains to models of early life stress, autism, or schizophrenia, Jeff hopes to gain broad insights into the circuit basis of mental illness and the physical underpinnings of memory storage.
For Jeff, connection is not only what he studies, but how he carries out his research. He has advanced insights into the “connectome” in partnership with collaborators at Princeton, MIT, Cambridge, Johns Hopkins, Columbia, among other universities. Over the last several years, Jeff’s team has also worked with engineers at Google on novel image processing techniques that make sense of large amounts of data quickly, applying artificial intelligence algorithms. He also nurtures a scientific community beyond his own research program, bringing together researchers in the life and physical sciences as well as engineering. He serves as the faculty director of the Harvard Center for Biological Imaging, an advanced light microscopy facility that serves researchers across Harvard and the Greater Boston area. He is also a steering committee member of the Harvard Center for Brain Science, the Mind Brain Behavior Interfaculty Initiative, and the Harvard Brain Science Initiative.
A dynamic instructor, Jeff is equally in demand in the classroom. He is well known for his introductory course “Neuro 80: The Neurobiology of Behavior,” which attracts several hundred students each year. In addition, he co-teaches two popular courses – an undergraduate course on microscopy taught with Professor Ethan Garner, and a graduate-level course taught with Professors Rich Losick and Michael Greenberg on how to give effective research presentations of scientific data. One theme of his teaching is that communicating complex scientific topics in a clear and compelling way is a skill that can, and should, be learned, right along with the traditional skills at the lab bench. Jeff himself is a model for effective scientific communication, both inside and outside the classroom. He is currently the director of undergraduate studies in neuroscience and the chair of the curriculum committee of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology.
In recognition of his pathbreaking research and accomplishments in the classroom, Jeff was named an Arts and Sciences Professor in 2013, the highest academic honor the Faculty of Arts and Sciences can bestow. He is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a recipient of the Transformative Research R01 Award from the National Institutes of Health. Jeff received an AB from Bowdoin College, and an M.D. and Ph.D. from Washington University where he worked for 30 years before coming to Harvard in 2004.
I want to take this opportunity to thank all those who provided input into this process. As a 20-year member myself of the Division of Science, it was a particular pleasure to talk with colleagues about the questions they see as most full of promise and the places where FAS’ leadership is most needed.
Jeff has big shoes to fill as he steps into this role. Chris Stubbs has been an outspoken advocate for the division, a highly effective leader of FAS initiatives from pandemic scenario planning to pedagogical responses to AI, and a generous and collaborative partner to me in my time as dean. I am deeply grateful to Chris for his past leadership, and excited for his future partnership as my special adviser on artificial intelligence.
Jeff thinks big, as evidenced by his own research program and his vision for pedagogy. As a scientist, an educator, and a leader, Jeff brings people together in genuine collaboration to advance the frontiers of knowledge, with characteristic optimism, joy, and a welcoming spirit. I am thrilled to welcome Jeff into this new role and to have him advancing the extraordinary possibilities of our academic community.
Sincerely,
Hopi
For more information, please see this Harvard Gazette article.
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