Marc Goodheart introduced on Tuesday that he plans to conclude his service as vice chairman and secretary of the College following Graduation ceremonies in Could.
Believed to be the longest-serving secretary of the governing boards in current Harvard historical past, Goodheart has held the position since 1998, serving as chief administrative officer for each the Harvard Company and the College’s Board of Overseers. A member of senior workers within the president’s workplace since late 1991, Goodheart will proceed to function a senior adviser to President Alan M. Garber and different College leaders after stepping away from his Loeb Home place subsequent spring. He’s anticipated to imagine a variety of duties drawing on his intensive expertise in areas regarding institutional insurance policies, presidential priorities, and planning of main College occasions.
“I got here to Harvard as a pupil in 1977, and I’ve thought-about myself a Harvard pupil ever since — perpetually studying about an establishment whose ecosystem is as dynamic, whose individuals are as gifted, and whose mission is as important as any I do know,” wrote Goodheart ’81, J.D. ’85, in a message to Harvard colleagues. “What has saved me right here longer than I’d ever imagined shouldn’t be merely the attract of the College’s mission, not merely the devotion and resilience of the individuals dedicated to advancing it, not merely the College’s inexhaustible capability to serve up novel and intriguing points, however the recognition that there’s at all times, inevitably, a niche between Harvard’s formidable beliefs and their success. It has been and stays a privilege to work with devoted colleagues on ever-evolving efforts to know and slender that hole.
“I look ahead to a productive ultimate tutorial 12 months supporting the work of Harvard’s boards,” he added, “serving to guarantee a easy transition, and planning methods to serve constructively within the time past.”
“Everybody who is aware of Marc acknowledges that he at all times places the pursuits of the establishment first, in search of to protect these features of Harvard which can be its coronary heart and its soul whereas exploring new avenues for excellence and progress.”
President Alan Garber
Garber praised Goodheart for his dedication to Harvard and its mission. “Everybody who is aware of Marc acknowledges that he at all times places the pursuits of the establishment first, in search of to protect these features of Harvard which can be its coronary heart and its soul whereas exploring new avenues for excellence and progress. The place there have been gaps between the place we’re and the place we wish to be, he has endeavored to slender them in his typically unassuming vogue, enriching deliberations along with his matchless understanding of historical past and precedent. From serving to to reform our governance constructions to guiding efforts to make our neighborhood extra inclusive — and numerous contributions in between — Marc has made the College higher.”
Goodheart, who was government editor of the Harvard Regulation Overview whereas a pupil at Harvard Regulation Faculty, served as the unique affiliate lawyer in Harvard’s Workplace of the Basic Counsel in 1986-87 earlier than going into personal apply. He returned to Harvard in December 1991, dividing time between the OGC and the Workplace of the President, turning into assistant to the president on a full-time foundation in 1992. He turned secretary of the College in 1998, whereas remaining a member of president’s senior workers. Over almost 33 years, he has served with Presidents Neil Rudenstine, Larry Summers, Derek Bok (throughout his interim 12 months), Drew Faust, Larry Bacow, Claudine Homosexual, and Garber. He has additionally supported 5 senior fellows of the Company, 27 presidents of the Board of Overseers, and greater than 175 members of the governing boards in all.
Harvard launched a few of the most consequential governance reforms in its historical past in 2010-11 whereas Goodheart served as secretary, together with a tough doubling of the scale of the Company and the launch of an array of latest committees important to the Company’s fiduciary position.
Joking that “I’ve reached a time in life when hardly a day goes by when my mail at house doesn’t embrace no less than one commercial for a Medicare plan,” Goodheart mentioned he’s trying ahead “to days forward once I can proceed doing what I can to assist [Harvard] navigate an exceptionally difficult time,” whereas additionally “trying ahead to days forward with extra time to be the member of the family and pal I satisfaction myself on attempting to be.”
Penny Pritzker, senior fellow of the Harvard Company, thanked Goodheart for his service to the governing boards.
“Marc Goodheart’s integrity, selflessness, and deep devotion to Harvard and its enduring values are on the coronary heart of all that he does on behalf of the establishment and have made him an important adviser to me, 4 different senior fellows, and scores of members of the governing boards through the years,” mentioned Pritzker. “All through his 26 years of service as secretary — in instances of problem and of alternative — he has supported the governing boards as a clever and trusted steward of the College’s mission, and I’m delighted he’ll proceed to help Harvard as a member of the Mass Corridor group within the coming years.”
Vivian Hunt, president of the Board of Overseers, additionally praised Goodheart.
“With a gentle and skillful hand, Marc Goodheart has helped all of us on the governing boards higher serve an establishment that we and he love,” she mentioned. “His dedication over virtually three many years as secretary demonstrates a rare dedication to Harvard and we thank him sincerely for his service to the College and to the governing boards.”
Goodheart is a magna cum laude graduate of each the Faculty — the place he concentrated in physics, served as president of The Harvard Unbiased, and hosted a jazz present on WHRB — and the Regulation Faculty. Early in his profession, he labored briefly for each The Miami Herald and The American Lawyer, was a regulation clerk for Choose Stephen Breyer on the U.S. Courtroom of Appeals for the First Circuit, and spent 4 years on the Boston regulation agency Hill & Barlow.
A seek for a brand new secretary will start quickly.
