Who Is Claudine Gay? Harvard's First Black President Steps Down

Harvard University's president Claudine Gay released a lengthy letter of resignation on January 2 amid plagiarism and antisemitism allegations. She had been facing accelerating backlash and pressure to step down from the University's pivotal role over the last few weeks. Harvard is one of several US universities facing accusations of failing to protect its Jewish students since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in October.

The controversy began when Gay reportedly made questionable remarks about Harvard's stance on the killing of Jews in North America since the war. Meanwhile, the US media added more accusations to the mix, uncovering several research papers that lacked required citations. As the backlash over the University's alleged anti-Jew stance and plagiarism escalated, Gay wrote, "It is with a heavy heart but a deep love for Harvard that I write to share that I will be stepping down as president."

Who is Claudine Gay?

A child of Haitian immigrants, Gay is considered a leading voice on the issue of American political participation. Among the issues she has explored is how a range of social and economic factors shape political views and voting. She also is the founding chair of Harvard’s Inequality in America Initiative, which studies issues like the effects of child poverty and deprivation on educational opportunity and American inequality from a global perspective.

Gay received her bachelor's degree from Stanford University in California in 1992. She earned her doctorate in 1998 from Harvard, where she won the Toppan Prize for the best dissertation in political science, according to the university.

She joined Harvard's faculty in 2006 as a government professor and became a professor of African and African-American Studies in 2007. She was appointed as the Edgerley Family Dean of Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences before being elevated to president in December 2022.

The 53-year-old had taken over as the university's 30th president, the first person of colour, and the second woman to ever take the helm of the university's board of leaders on July 1 last year. In the 388-year history of Harvard University, Gay's tenure as the president has been the shortest.