Join us for a conversation with President Alan M. Garber AB '77, PhD '82 moderated by Sylvia M. Burwell AB '87. Alan M. Garber was officially appointed president of Harvard University on August 2, 2024 after serving as interim president since January 2, 2024 and as the provost and chief academic officer since 2011. He is also the Mallinckrodt Professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School, a Professor of Economics in the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Professor of Public Policy in the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management in the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
This off-the-record event is open to all alumni.
About Sylvia Burwell AB ’87
Senior professorial lecturer in the American University School of Public Affairs and distinguished fellow in residence at the Sine Institute for Policy and Politics at American University; former president, American University; former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services
Sylvia Mathews Burwell is currently senior professorial lecturer in the American University School of Public Affairs and distinguished fellow in residence at the Sine Institute for Policy and Politics at American University. She is the first woman to have served as American University's 15th president, a position she held from 2017 until June 30, 2024.
Burwell is a broad-ranging, effective leader who has served at the highest levels of government, philanthropy, and academia. Since her inauguration as AU’s president in 2018, President Burwell created AU’s comprehensive strategy, Changemakers for a Changing World, launched a $500 million Change Can’t Wait campaign to fund new efforts in student thriving, and successfully led the university through a historic pandemic.
Under her leadership, AU became the first university to achieve carbon neutrality; launched an inclusive excellence plan as a roadmap toward a more equitable future; opened the Sine Institute for Policy and Politics, the Khan Cyber and Economic Security Institute, and the LEED-Gold Hall of Science; helped to create an ethos of inquiry with an updated policy on freedom of expression and expressive conduct; supported faculty to more than double externally-funded research dollars; celebrated the growth of faculty achievements ranging from multi-million dollar grants to New York Times bestselling books; and grew AU’s endowment to approximately $950 million.
Burwell also led the creation of the Change Can't Wait campaign to create transformative educational opportunities for students, advance research with impact, and build stronger communities locally, nationally, and globally. This campaign is on target to raise $500 million and make the largest investment in student thriving in the university's history.
Burwell previously held two positions in the President’s Cabinet – serving as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for President Barack Obama. As HHS Secretary, she managed a trillion-dollar department with 12 operating divisions – including NIH, FDA, and the Medicaid and Medicare programs. As Director of OMB, she worked with Congress to negotiate a two-year budget deal following the 2013 government shutdown.
Burwell also held leadership positions at two of the largest foundations in the world – she served as Chief Operating Officer and president of the Global Development Program at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and as president of the Walmart Foundation.
Burwell earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Government from Harvard University and a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.
She is a member of the Harvard University Board of Overseers, the Aspen Strategy Group, and the Aspen Economic Strategy Group. She also serves on the boards of the American Council on Education, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, GuideWell, and Kimberly-Clark.
A second-generation Greek American, Burwell is a native of Hinton, West Virginia. She and her husband Stephen are the parents of two teenagers.
About President Alan M. Garber AB '77, PhD '82
Alan M. Garber AB '77, PhD '82 was named president of Harvard University on August 2, 2024 after serving as interim president since January 2, 2024. Garber was Harvard’s provost and chief academic officer from 2011-2024. He is also the Mallinckrodt Professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School, a Professor of Economics in the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Professor of Public Policy in the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management in the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. An economist and physician, he studies methods for improving health care productivity and health care financing.
As Provost, Dr. Garber was responsible for oversight of academic activities throughout the university, with direct responsibility for inter-school initiatives, faculty development, research policy, international affairs, and advances in learning. The Harvard Art Museums, the Harvard Library, Harvard University Health Services, HarvardX, the American Repertory Theater, and the Arnold Arboretum are among the organizations reporting to the Provost.
Before becoming Harvard’s Provost, Dr. Garber was the Henry J. Kaiser Jr. Professor and a Professor of Medicine, as well as a Professor of Economics, Health Research and Policy, and Economics in the Graduate School of Business (by courtesy) at Stanford University. At Stanford, he founded and directed the Center for Health Policy and the Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research, and served as a Staff Physician at the Department of Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System.
Dr. Garber is an Elected Member of the Association of American Physicians, the National Academy of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also an Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American College of Physicians and the Royal College of Physicians. A summa cum laude graduate of Harvard College, Dr. Garber received a PhD in Economics from Harvard and an MD with research honors from Stanford.