Harvard President To Step Down Next Year

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Lawrence Bacow, president of Harvard University, announced his plan Wednesday to step down from the role next year.

Bacow took up the position as Harvard's 29th president in 2018 and led the university through a number of changes and challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

In March 2020, Bacow led the charge to take Harvard classes online, making the school one of the first to do so. That summer, he also successfully challenged a Trump administration decision that would force international students out of the country if they planned to classes primarily online.

Bacow also launched the initiative on Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery in 2019 to uncover and address the university's ties to slavery. The initiative concluded in April 2022 with the release of a report on its findings.

President Bacow's last day at Harvard will be June 30, 2023. He said he and his wife, Adele, plan to spend more time with their children and grandchildren.

"There is never a good time to leave a job like this one, but now seems right to me," Bacow said in a letter to the Harvard community Wednesday. "Through our collective efforts, we have found our way through the pandemic. We have worked together to sustain Harvard through change and through storm, and collectively we have made Harvard better and stronger in countless ways."