Harvard chooses newest Provost

Harvey Fineberg has been affiliated with Harvard since 1963 and has four degrees from the school. Harvard University's new Provost Harvey Fineberg has come a long way since he first enrolled at the institution as a freshman in 1963. Armed with four degrees from Harvard and years of experience as a professor in the School of Public Health and Dean of the Faculty of Public Health, Fineberg replaced outgoing Provost Albert Carnsdale on July 1. Carnsdale left Harvard to become Chancellor of the University of California at Los Angeles, a position for which Penn Provost Stanley Chodorow was also considered. "Harvey Fineberg is an experienced and successful academic leader who has ably guided the School of Public Health through a time of unprecedented growth as well as fundamental changes in health needs," Rudenstine said in a written release. "He has an extensive knowledge of Harvard and its different parts, he has a talent for bringing people together to work toward common ends, and he has a quality of judgement that is both rigorously analytical and deeply humane." Under Fineberg, the number of SPH degree candidates has grown from 426 to 764 and the number of faculty has increased from 133 to 162 while the budget has risen from $38 million to $120 million. He has lead a capital campaign which has raised more than $125 million over the past four years. During Fineberg's tenure, SPH has revamped it's masters in public health degree program to meet contemporary health needs through emphasizing problem-based learning and integrating classroom and field experience. In addition, the school now offers a doctoral program in health policy and biological sciences in conjunction with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. "My nearly thirteen years as Dean of the Faculty of Public Health have been the most gratifying period of my life," Fineberg said. "The public health enterprise has never played a more prominent part in identifying, comprehending and helping to solve scientific and social problems." But he added that he is enjoying his new position. "It is an exciting opportunity for me to extend my own education as well as to serve a university that has been my professional home for so many years," he said. "As Provost, I will do all that I can to assist the whole Harvard community in our shared efforts to make a great university even stronger and better prepared for the future." After graduating from Harvard College in 1967, Fineberg received graduate degrees from Harvard Medical School and the university's Kennedy School of Government in 1972. He became a member of the Faculty of Public Health in 1973 and earned a fourth Harvard degree -- a doctorate in public policy -- in 1980. Fineberg's research has focused on the process of health policy development and implementation, the assessment of medical technology and the dissemation of medical innovations. Some topics he has examined include the controversial federal immunization program against swine flu, the adverse effects of pertussis and rubella vaccines, the cost-effectiveness of cardiac care and the reform of medical education.