Welcome!

Dear FAS community,
 
Whether you are returning to familiar paths through the Yard or experiencing Harvard for the very first time, welcome! 
 
After almost twenty years on the faculty, I thought I knew everything there was to know about this place. My lab feels just as comfortable to me as the swing on my front porch, and my favorite walks and coffee spots are well established. But as I settle into my role as FAS Dean, I feel a little like a beginner, re-discovering Harvard one conversation at a time. As I move beyond my usual sphere, I am learning about new aspirations and new questions, and the dazzling array of ideas and possibilities that have drawn people from across the globe to this very special place. It’s a powerful reminder that people are what make this place so extraordinary, that drive the broad excellence that defines the FAS. My own sense of Harvard is changing along with my experience of the breadth of this community. That’s a process that is just getting started for me, and I’m excited about what the fall holds.
 
As I think about what advice I might give those just arriving here, it would be this – as you start to get to know Harvard and to build your own community, those people who will be the ones with whom you find your way and share the sense of wonder that comes with this new adventure, take advantage of the tremendous diversity of excellence on campus, from students and colleagues, to disciplines and resources. Let yourself be curious. And to returning faculty and students, I urge you to join me in veering off your well-trodden path. Take a detour and see where it leads. Reach out to a colleague in another department, or even a different division or school. Explore a new corner of campus. Expand your experience of Harvard’s community.
 
New to Harvard or not, invest in your community knowing that it will not only support you, but it will shape how you think and the questions you ask, will expand the limits of your imagination, and, most importantly, will make Harvard a vibrant home.
 
Have a wonderful fall term,
 
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