Lawrence S. Bacow is an American lawyer, economist, author and university administrator, and the current and 29th president of Harvard University. He took office on July 1, 2018, succeeding Drew Gilpin Faust. Before assuming the presidency, Bacow was the Hauser leader-in-residence at the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School.
Bacow began his academic career in 1977 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he was a professor of environmental studies in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning before becoming the department’s chair and ultimately the university’s chancellor. From 2001 to 2011, Bacow served as the 12th president of Tufts University. After leaving Tufts, he joined the Harvard Graduate School of Education and was a member of one of Harvard University’s governing boards, the President and Fellows of Harvard College.
Bacow attended Andover High School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He then received his S.B. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was a member of the Jewish fraternity Zeta Beta Tau. He received a J.D. from Harvard Law School, a M.P.P. from Harvard Kennedy School, and his PhD in public policy from Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
