Meeting Archive

2023 Annual Meeting

For detailed notes, review the full session summaries.
Highlights from the 2023 meeting include:

  • Thursday, October 26: Mini-exhibitions curated by Harvard archivists at Widener Library, covering topics from climate change to revitalizing democracy.
  • Welcome reception and dinner, featuring a University update from President Claudine Gay on Harvard’s efforts to combat discrimination, foster civil dialogue, and engage interdisciplinary collaboration in addressing global challenges.
  • A discussion on prosperity, happiness, and the barriers to a better life, led by council chair David Rubenstein, featuring:
    • Vikram Patel, Paul Farmer Professor, Chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School
    • Stefanie Stantcheva, Nathaniel Ropes Professor of Political Economy, Faculty of Arts and Sciences
    • Robert Waldinger AB ’73, MD ’78, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Director of the Center for Psychodynamic Therapy and Research at Massachusetts General Hospital; Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development
  • A violin performance by Harvard College–New England Conservatory of Music student Paloma So ’27.
  • Friday, October 27: Breakfast with Harvard students supported by the Committee on General Scholarships or involved in the Harvard Global Health Institute’s Summer Research and Internships Program.
  • Executive session with President Gay.
  • A conversation on global climate adaption efforts at Harvard, featuring:
    • Emmanuel K. Akyeampong, Ellen Gurney Professor of History and Professor of African and African American Studies, Faculty of Arts and Sciences; Oppenheimer Faculty Director of the Harvard University Center for African Studies
    • Anita Berrizbeitia MLA ’87, Professor of Landscape Architecture, Harvard Graduate School of Design
    • Caroline Buckee, Professor of Epidemiology, Associate Director of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
    • Kari C. Nadeau MD ’92, PhD ’95, John Rock Professor of Climate and Population Studies, Chair of the Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Heath
    • Moderator: James H. Stock, Vice Provost for Climate and Sustainability; Director of the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability; Harold Hitchings Burbank Professor of Political Economy, Faculty of Arts and Sciences
  • TED-style talks by leading Harvard faculty, highlighting the University’s potential to address key global challenges, including the development of trustworthy AI, racial injustice and the newly established University Consortium on Afro-Latin American Studies, combating democratic backsliding, education’s impact on immigrant and refugee children, and the work of the Institute for the Study of Business in Global Society (BiGS). Featuring: 
    • Flavio du Pin Calmon, Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
    • Alejandro de la Fuente, Robert Woods Bliss Professor of Latin American History and Economics, Professor of African and African American Studies and of History, Interim Chair of the Department of African and African American Studies, Faculty of Arts and Sciences; Director, Afro-Latin American Research Institute, Hutchins Center for African and African American Research
    • Pippa Norris, Paul F. McGuire Lecturer in Comparative Politics, Harvard Kennedy School
    • Gabrielle Oliveira, Jorge Paulo Lemann Associate Professor of Education and of Brazil Studies, Harvard Graduate School of Education
    • Debora L. Spar PhD ’90, Jaime and Josefina Chua Tiampo Professor of Business Administration, Senior Associate Dean of Business in Global Society, Unit Head of General Management, Harvard Business School
    • Mark Wu AB ’95, Henry L. Stimson Professor, Harvard Law School; Director of the John King Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies

 

2022 Annual Meeting

For detailed notes, review the full session summaries.
Highlights from the 2022 meeting include:

  • Wednesday, October 19: A discussion on international development and defining global prosperity led by:
    •  Ricardo Hausmann, Founder and Director of the Growth Lab, Rafik Hariri Professor of the Practice of International Political Economy, Harvard Kennedy School
  • Reception and dinner at Harvard Kennedy School, including a University update by President Larry Bacow.
  • A fireside chat on the state of democracy worldwide led by council chair David Rubenstein, featuring:
    • Joan Donovan, Research Director and Director of the Technology and Social Change Project at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy, Lecturer, Harvard Kennedy School
    • Steven Levitsky, Director of the David Rockerfeller Center for Latin American Studies, David Rockerfeller Professor of Latin American Studies, Professor of Government, Faculty of Arts and Sciences
  • A violin performance by Harvard College student Enoch Li ’26.
  • Thursday, October 20: Breakfast with Harvard Horizons students.
  • TED-style talks by leading Harvard faculty on some of the most significant global concerns and opportunities of our time—and how the University is poised to lead. Topics include public health policy, the impact of U.S. law and policy on climate change, the future of impact investing and higher education, and trust in human/AI interactions. Featuring:
    • Marcia Castro, Chair of the Department of Global Health and Population, Andelot Professor of Demography, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
    • Jody Freeman LLM ’91, SJD ’95, Director of the Environmental and Energy Law Program, Archibald Cox Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
    • William C. Kirby PhD ’81, T.M. Chang Professor of China Studies, Faculty of Arts and Sciences; Spangler Family Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
    • George Serafeim DBA ’10, Charles M. Williams Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
    • Fernanda Viégas, Sally Starling Seaver Professor, Harvard Radcliffe Institute; Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science, Harvard John A. Paulson School oof Engineering and Applied Sciences
  • An update on Harvard in Allston, including the first phase of development for the University’s Enterprise Research Campus, featuring:
  • Lunch and keynote address led by
    • Edward Glaeser, Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics, Faculty of Arts and Sciences 
  • Executive session with President Bacow.

2021 Annual Meeting

Highlights from the 2021 meeting include:

  • Thursday, October 14: An update from President Bacow regarding students’ return to campus, Harvard’s finances, and faculty awards of note (abridged meeting notes can be found here).
  • Reflections from Harvard’s inaugural vice provost for climate and sustainability, Jim Stock, on Harvard’s areas of opportunity with regard to climate change.
  • An interactive conversation examining the intersection of climate change and inequality, and the most viable paths for meaningful action. Featuring:
    • Jim Stock, Vice Provost for Climate and Sustainability; Harold Hitchings Burbank Professor of Political Economy, Faculty of Arts and Sciences
    • Paul Farmer, Kolokotrones University Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine and Chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Chief of the Division of Global Health Equity, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Cofounder, Partners In Health
    • Rebecca Henderson, John and Natty McArthur University Professor, Harvard Business School
    • Aminta Ossom, Lecturer on Law and Clinical Instructor in the International Human Rights Clinic, Harvard Law School
  • Friday, October 15: A conversation regarding Harvard’s vision for an expanded campus in Allston, amplifying the University’s global impact as it pertains to the life sciences, engineering, and partnerships with industry (abridged meeting notes can be found here). Featuring:
    • Srikant Datar, Dean and George F. Baker Professor of Administration, Harvard Business School
    • Frank Doyle, John A. Paulson Dean and John A. and Elizabeth S. Armstrong Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
    • Alan Garber, Provost of Harvard University; Mallinckrodt Professor of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School
    • Katie Lapp, Executive Vice President of Harvard University
    • Executive session with President Bacow.

Additional Resources:

GAC Meeting Archive

 

Meeting Archive

Learn more about past Global Advisory Council meetings:

2020 Annual Meeting

Highlights from the 2020 meeting include:

  • An update from Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Claudine Gay on virus control, remote learning, and international students at Harvard College this unique fall semester.
  • An interactive discussion on best practices for leading during tumultuous times.
  • Lightning talks by leading faculty members on the cycles of history, from global economic growth to breakdowns in democracy.
  • A conversation with President Larry Bacow about Harvard’s global path forward and responsibilities to the world during times of crisis.

Fall Semester Update by Claudine Gay, Edgerley Family Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the Wilbur A. Cowett Professor of Government and of African and African American Studies

Leadership in Tumultuous Times

  • Juliette Kayyem, Belfer Senior Lecturer in International Security, Faculty Director of the Homeland Security Project and Security and Global Health Project, Harvard Kennedy School
  • Dutch Leonard, George F. Baker, Jr. Professor of Public Sector Management, Harvard Kennedy School; Eliot I. Snider and Family Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School

Cycles of History Lightning Talks

  • The History of Health Care and Economics in China with Winnie Yip, Professor of the Practice of Global Health Policy and Economics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
  • The History of Global Economic Growth and Opportunity with Melissa Dell, Andrew E. Furer Professor of Economics, Faculty of Arts and Sciences
  • The History of Breakdowns in Democracy with David Moss, Paul Whiton Cherington Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
  • The History of Power Dynamics and Privilege with Annette Gordon-Reed, Carl M. Loeb University Professor, Harvard University

Executive Session with President Bacow

Pre-reads:

2019 Annual Meeting

Highlights from the 2019 meeting include:

Breakfast with Harvard Horizons PhD Scholars

Global Challenges and Big Ideas
   Using technology to tackle climate change and improve health with Gina McCarthy

   New frontier of quantum technology with Misha Lukin

   #MeToo as a revolutionary cascade with Cass Sunstein

   Solar geoengineering as a response to climate change with David Keith

   Generating 3D cerebral organoids with Paola Arlotta



The Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence with Jonathan Zittrain


Executive Session with President Lawrence S. Bacow
Questions for reflection, as posed by President Bacow:

  1. Have universities in your country changed their behavior in response to a less welcoming environment in the U.S. to immigrants and visitors from abroad? For example, have they expanded efforts to recruit international students?
  2. Recent events in Saudi Arabia and China have raised questions about the propriety of accepting research support from some governments as well as corporations from certain countries (e.g., Huawei). Do you have thoughts on how we should be thinking about these issues?
  3. In a “post-truth” age often described as populist, polarized, and full of “fake news,” how can we best make the case that great universities, and Harvard specifically, should be valued by all of society as places where facts, truth, expertise, and real knowledge all matter?

2018 Annual Meeting

Highlights from the 2018 meeting include:

  • The inaugural Mahindra Award ceremony honoring Nobel Laureate and author J. M. Coetzee.
  • Dinner at the Harvard Art Museums with a performance by Yo-Yo Ma’s The Silk Road Ensemble.
  • Breakfast with student innovators and young alumni advancing global well-being through entrepreneurial start-ups focused on science, education, and environmentalism.
  • Panel discussions on the impact and direction of global trade and the roots of inequality.
  • A conversation with President Larry Bacow in his first year as president.

Breakfast with student innovators and young alumni entrepreneurs. Click here for participants.

Panel #1 Global Trade and Where It’s Going with Robert Rubin, Gita Gopinath, Willy Shih, and Mark Wu discussed the current state of global trade and trade conflicts.

READ: "Interview with Gita Gopinath" (Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis) 
VIDEO: "Trade: It’s All About the Dollar" (YouTube)
READ: "When Will the Tariff Battle with China Start To Affect Us?" (Forbes)
VIDEO: "The Big Picture on Trade" (YouTube)
READ: "The 'China, Inc.' Challenge to Global Trade Governance" (Harvard Innovation Law Journal
VIDEO: "International Trade in the Digital Age" (YouTube)

Panel #2 Improving Equality of Opportunity: New Insights from Big Data with Raj Chetty, Shaun Donovan, and Claudine Gay.

READ: "Detailed New National Maps Show How Neighborhoods Shape Children for Life" (New York Times)
READ: "What Government Does" (New York Times)
VIDEO: TED Talk (YouTube)
READ: "Reflections on Inequality in America Initiative’s First Year" (Harvard Gazette)

Conversation: Advice to the President from the Global Advisory Council
Questions for reflection, as posed by President Bacow:

  1. As I begin my tenure as Harvard’s president, I have received a lot of advice—some solicited, and much unsolicited. As you are distinguished leaders who successfully run organizations, and good friends of Harvard I have come to know and respect, I would like to ask for your directed advice and guidance to me as I am starting out my presidency, and for Harvard in the coming years.
  2. Harvard is a global institution. In a time of growing populism and nationalism throughout the world, how should Harvard engage with other institutions across the world and respond to trends that are more inward looking?

2017 Annual Meeting

Highlights from the 2017 meeting include:

  • Reception and dinner in Loeb House with a musical tribute to creativity and conversation with Grammy award-winning jazz artist and Department of Music Professor of the Practice Esperanza Spalding, and Council Chair David Rubenstein.
  • Breakfast with student and young alumni entrepreneurs.
  • Conversation with President Faust on how Harvard can best respond to nationalist sentiment.
  • Three faculty panel discussions on science, U.S. foreign policy, and global citizenship.
  • Final roundtable discussion with President Faust and Council Chair David Rubenstein offering advice, guidance and reflections on Harvard's role as a global university.
  • Harvard Presidential Search briefing and discussion.
  • Announcement of the Mittal family’s transformative gift to rename the South Asia Institute at Harvard University to the Lakshmi Mittal South Asia Institute at Harvard University. Read more about the Mittal family’s gift in the Harvard Gazette.

We are pleased to share minutes from each of the meeting sessions along with briefing materials.

Breakfast with student and young alumni entrepreneurs. Click here for a list of participants.

Conversation with President FaustGAC Welcome
David Rubenstein and President Faust opened this year’s meeting by posing questions to the audience for discussion, such as the role can Harvard play in tackling current global challenges like nationalism.

 

Faculty Panel #1: Pathbreaking Science: Where Hope and Democracy Begin
Pathbreaking Science
A conversation with scientists John Holdren, Jennifer Lewis, Steven McCarroll, and Rachel Wilson about the role and impact of the University in expanding scientific knowledge and influencing policy for the common good.

 

Faculty Panel #2: U.S. Foreign Policy: Where Do We Go From Here?
U.S. Foreign Policy
A conversation led by E.J. Dionne Jr., with Ash Carter, Noah Feldman, and Samantha Power on how U.S. foreign policy will affect the University's role in—and view of—the world.

 

Faculty Panel #3: Global Citizenship and Global Responsibility
Michael Sandel
Michael J. Sandel facilitated a large-group discussion about what it means to be a global citizen.

 

 

GAC Roundtable and Closing SessionGAC Roundtable
This year’s meeting closed with a conversation between David Rubenstein and President Faust, who reflected on how the world and the University have changed since 2007, when she became Harvard’s 28th president, and shared her hopes for Harvard in the years to come.

2016 Meeting

Thank you for a successful fifth annual Harvard Global Advisory Council meeting in October 2016.

The meeting provided an opportunity for members to connect with each other, examine topics of concern to the University and the world, and to hear from President Drew Faust on the progress of Harvard's global engagement. For an overview and summary of the meeting, please refer to this link of the 2016 meeting notes.

Highlights from the meeting include: 

  • Gift for President FaustBefore dinner, GAC members and guests viewed a specially curated exhibit of rare documents and manuscripts from The Harvard Library, displayed and discussed with curators from the Library.
  • After dinner, GAC members and their guests were treated to a special performance with faculty and student jazz musicians.
  • Young alumni and student entrepreneurs shared their inventions during an informal breakfast. Click here for a list of start-ups participating in the session.
  • GAC members joined small group discussions on our black holes and our expanding universe, the potential of gene editing technologies, and conversation with researchers in issues ranging from poverty to women's health and brain science.
  • In the midst of this polarizing U.S. presidential campaign, GAC members participated in a discussion led by David Rubenstein on the implications of the U.S. election.
  • David Rubenstein presented President Faust with two historical gifts: a photo of the Harvard Board of Overseers in 1913 signed by all members, including Theodore Roosevelt; and a hand-edited version of John F. Kennedy’s Harvard Commencement Address from 1956.

Listen to audio recordings of the discussions:

2016 Meeting Materials

Post-reads:

Pre-reads:

2015 Meeting

2015 Meeting Materials

2014 Meeting

2014 Meeting Materials

2013 Meeting

2013 Meeting Materials

2012 Meeting