Penny Pritzker ’81, senior fellow of the Harvard Corporation, reflected on a year of transition and challenge for the campus community and outlined her plans for the year ahead in a recent conversation with the Gazette. Pritzker touched on engagement efforts underway at the Corporation, including a new approach to inform the next presidential search, and shared her perspective on ongoing work across the University to advance constructive dialogue and bring the community together.

A leader in business and philanthropy and former U.S. secretary of commerce, Pritzker joined the Harvard Corporation in 2018 and was elected senior fellow in 2022. She also served on Harvard’s Board of Overseers from 2002 to 2008.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

We’re coming toward the end of the semester and the end of a difficult year for Harvard and for higher education. How do you reflect on where we are now and how you and the Corporation are thinking about the year ahead?

Let’s not sugarcoat it — it’s been a painful and challenging year for Harvard, and I believe it’s important to acknowledge that even as we’ve begun to build for the future. We’ve faced relentless scrutiny about every aspect of the University, from stakeholders inside and outside the institution. We’re dealing with deep divisions that have emerged in our community due to the war in the Middle East. We are addressing longstanding challenges related to constructive dialogue on our campus and beyond, and we are cognizant of the need to ensure that a wide range of opinions and perspectives can be heard on campus. All of us on the Corporation are grateful to President [Alan] Garber and his team for charting a path through these difficult challenges. I feel optimistic that we are making progress, at the same time as all parts of the University are driving forward remarkable progress and excellence in our teaching and research mission.

Reflecting on the year, what are the lessons that the Corporation is taking on board and how are you planning to respond to those?

There are many lessons. We’ve certainly sought to listen and learn from the community. We have heard the community’s desire for greater transparency. We’ve heard concerns that the Corporation hasn’t engaged with the community sufficiently — and that feedback has informed our approach. We have made an intentional commitment to strengthening engagement and communication. My fellow Corporation members and I have participated in faculty town halls, regular dinners, and small group meetings with faculty members, meetings with the various task forces, and robust engagement with alumni on campus, locally and through virtual events around the country. In the last few weeks I met with the co-chairs of the Presidential Task Forces on Combating Antisemitism and Anti-Israel Bias and on Combating Anti-Muslim, Anti-Arab, and Anti-Palestinian Bias, and I have been on campus often to meet with faculty, students, administrators, including at events around the Harvard-Yale game.

It is important to ensure we have the pulse of the community and that we are listening intently to the stakeholders in our community so that we understand how to best support Alan and his leadership team in advancing the priorities of the University. We understand that for the well-being of all our students, our community, and our mission, we need to be more open. So, our engagement will continue particularly as we approach discussions around advancing key academic or other priorities, as well as, importantly, as we approach the next presidential search. We know in such a dynamic institution that neither the Corporation nor the administration has all the answers. That is why listening, engaging, and taking advice are so critical.

On the presidential search, you recently announced a new committee to look at the process moving forward. How is the Corporation thinking differently about the next search?

The new Presidential Search Process Committee will provide advice to the Corporation about best practices for the search for the 32nd president of Harvard, which will begin in late spring of 2026. The work this committee is undertaking, including engagement across our community and externally, will inform how we ultimately undertake that search. Everything from who should be on the search committee, to how faculty and the broader community are engaged. What kind of external support do we need to undertake the search? The mandate for this committee is broad and our interest in advice is sincere.

I will say that our last search was both robust and wide-ranging. We consulted extensively and considered a wide range of candidates before selecting Claudine Gay, who was unanimously selected as the right choice at that time. But we recognize circumstances have changed and we need to think about the search with that in mind and how we best proceed from where we are. We approach this with a lot of humility and a determination to get the right leadership for an institution we all care about so deeply.

Can you say more about the new committee?

In the months ahead, this committee will engage our community to hear thoughts and considerations on how we undertake the next presidential search. They will also continue to gather information on how other institutions conduct these types of searches and look broadly for best practices. The membership is made up of three members of the Corporation — Biddy Martin, Ken Frazier, and Diana Nelson — and three members who will bring perspectives from outside the Corporation: Sylvia Burwell, who is on the Board of Overseers and was president of American University; Patti Saris, who is a former president of the Overseers and federal judge; and Brad Bloom, who has been a successful business leader. All three are alums who have contributed a wide range of other service to the Harvard community.

Alan Garber has been widely praised for his leadership during a tough period. How would you reflect on his presidency so far?

I believe Alan Garber is doing an outstanding job. He has been thoughtful and intentional in advancing our mission and priorities, as well as leading in ways to heal and strengthen our community during a very challenging period. This isn’t just my view, as I also hear this from faculty, alumni, and other leaders. He has helped the community come together, set in motion important initiatives to tackle hate and to encourage and foster open inquiry and constructive dialogue, and all the while helped move forward our incredibly important teaching and research mission.

What would say has been the hallmark of his leadership to this point?

What we hear from people within Harvard and from many outside is that Alan engages with authenticity and without defensiveness. He is willing to acknowledge that Harvard is not perfect and that of course we have more work to do. I believe Alan is well-positioned to bring the community along with him as we address these challenges.

A great example of this is the work he set in motion on constructive dialogue and open inquiry. In this area, Alan has encouraged deans and faculty to create opportunities for debate and discussion across difference. He and Provost [John] Manning deserve huge credit for that and for leading the work on institutional voice and open inquiry. The report of the working group led by Tomiko Brown-Nagin and Eric Beerbohm brought into sharp focus the problem of students and faculty self-censoring and the implications of that for an academic community.

At the same time, Alan and the entire Corporation are deeply dedicated to ensuring that we center academic excellence in Harvard’s teaching, learning, and research mission. As chief academic officer when he was provost and now as president, Alan firmly believes in the work that happens in classrooms and labs as the core of our mission. So, you see, we can both strengthen our community, bridge the divides that exist, and model the very forms of constructive dialogue that are vital to a place like Harvard, while simultaneously celebrating and advancing the teaching, learning and scholarship that is core to our mission.

How should the University be considering engaging with the new political landscape in Washington?

While we don’t know precisely what proposals that affect higher education will look like, we believe that engaging with leaders in Washington is critical. Harvard and institutions of higher education across the country must continue to make a strong case for the effective and strong partnership between higher education and the federal government. We cannot take it for granted. This is a partnership that has offered considerable return for the American people in the form of medical discoveries and treatments, insights and innovations that provide personal opportunity for so many in our country, and research and extraordinary innovations that power the U.S. economy as well as improve U.S. competitiveness in critical industries and across the globe.

Fundamentally, in this time of great change I believe that higher education can do more to expand opportunity for many, whether that’s economically or from a well-being standpoint.

Alan has been in Washington on six occasions in the last year, and I know he is planning to continue his advocacy for this partnership in research funding, financial aid, and other areas. This is work that has my support as well as that of all the other fellows.

It’s been widely discussed that the portrayal of Harvard from some outside the University bears little resemblance to the day-to-day experience of those living, working, studying, and researching within the community. Do you feel some things get lost in the noisy swirl around higher education right now?

Yes, it is frankly striking to be on campus and to speak with hundreds of students, faculty, and others over the course of the last year. The focus here remains — as it has always been — on the pursuit of excellence on every front. Supporting that campus environment is something the fellows take incredibly seriously, and several times throughout this semester — so far — we’ve been reminded of what is possible here at Harvard.

This includes the eight Harvard College students selected as Rhodes Scholars in recent weeks. Harvard Medical School Professor Gary Ruvkun was named a Nobel laureate. Earlier this semester, we had the announcement of a new AI-driven cancer diagnostics tool developed by HMS researchers. Just last month, we saw the launch of the Lavine Learning Lab at the A.R.T., with support from Jonathan and Jeannie Lavine, which will strengthen engagement between public high schools and the A.R.T.’s groundbreaking theatrical programming.

These are all exciting developments and recognitions. They are also powerful examples of how our community provides the opportunity for our students and faculty to pursue excellence, and along the way impact lives well beyond the boundaries of our campus.

Advancing excellence is where President Garber is focused and the Corporation is fully supportive. Together, we are listening and learning. The University is on the right track and making progress under Alan’s leadership. Of course, we will face hurdles and challenges. But let’s step back; Harvard is a special place and a special community. All of us are committed to the mission of excellence in teaching, learning, and research, as well as to the goal of ensuring the well-being of all members of our community — students, faculty, staff, and more.