Education
A specialist in the history of the South in the antebellum period and Civil War, Faust developed new perspectives in intellectual history of the antebellum South and in the changing roles of women during the Civil War.
professor of history president of university
A specialist in the history of the South in the antebellum period and Civil War, Faust developed new perspectives in intellectual history of the antebellum South and in the changing roles of women during the Civil War.
Faust was appointed the 28th president of Harvard University on July 1, 2007, and was formally installed on October 12, 2007. She was the first woman to hold this position in the history of Harvard University. Many sources say she was a surprise choice for the position after the high-profile and controversial Lawrence Summers stepped down in 2006. Former Harvard President Derek Bok served as interim president of Harvard between the departure of Summers in 2006 and Faust’s selection in 2007. However, while Summers was in office, he publicly suggested that genetic gender differences may explain why few women attain top math, science and engineer degrees and, ultimately, jobs. His comment sparked controversy in academic and feminist circles around the country, so as an effort to redeem himself, he asked Faust to head an effort to recruit and retain female students and faculty at Harvard.
According to a New York Times article, when asked if her appointment as president of Harvard signified the end of sex inequities at the university, she said: “Of course not. There is a lot of work still to be done, especially in the sciences.” However, in other interviews, she has made it clear that she does not want her sex to get in the way of doing her job. According to an article published in Bryn Mawr’s alumni newsletter, even in the press conference after Faust’s appointment as the president of Harvard, she said: “I’m not the woman president of Harvard. I’m the president of Harvard...but young women have come up to me and said, ‘This is really an inspiration.’ So I think it would be wrong not to acknowledge that this has tremendous symbolic importance.”
Faust is the first woman to serve as Harvard's president and the university's 28th president overall. Faust is the fifth woman to serve as president of an Ivy League university and is the former dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Faust is also Harvard's first president since 1672 without an undergraduate or graduate degree from Harvard. The Lincoln Professor of History in Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
“A Woman’s War: Southern Women in the Civil War” (with Thavolio Glymph and George C. Rable)
"This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War
Southern Stories: Slaveholders in Peace and War
The Creation of Confederate Nationalism: Ideology and Identity in the Civil War South
James Henry Hammond and the Old South: A Design for Mastery
A Sacred Circle: The Dilemma of the Intellectual in the Old South
Quotations:
Universities nurture the hopes of the world: in solving challenges that cross borders; in unlocking and harnessing new knowledge; in building cultural and political understanding; and in modeling environments that promote dialogue and debate... The ideal and breadth of liberal education that embraces the humanities and arts as well as the social and natural sciences is at the core of Harvard’s philosophy.
- Drew Gilpin Faust in an address to the Royal Irish Academy, June 30, 2010