Alan Michael Garber (born 1955) is an American physician, health economist, and academic administrator. He is the Provost of

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Early life and education

Garber was born in 1955. He graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

in 1976 with an AB in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

and stayed at Harvard to earn an AM and a PhD in economics. While pursuing his PhD, he enrolled simultaneously at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, where he received an MD degree in 1983.

Career

Garber succeeded Steven Hyman as the provost of Harvard University on September 1, 2011. Garber is also the Mallinckrodt Professor of Health Care Policy at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

, Professor of Economics in the

Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences The Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) is the largest of the ten faculties that constitute Harvard University. Headquartered principally in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and centered in the historic Harvard Yard, FAS is the only faculty respon ...

, Professor of Public Policy in the

John F. Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

, and Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management in the

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is the public health school of Harvard University, located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. The school grew out of the Harvard-MIT School for Health Officers, the nation's first ...

Graduate student unionization Graduate student employee unionization, or academic student employee unionization, refers to labor unions that represent students who are employed by their college or university to teach classes, conduct research and perform clerical duties. As of ...
controversy

In July 2016, Harvard University's Office of the Provost launched a web page in response to its graduate students' efforts to unionize. On August 23, 2016, following the Columbia decision which restored union rights to teaching and research assistants, the Provost's office wrote in an email to students, "we continue to believe that the relationship between students and the University is primarily about education, and that unionization will disrupt academic programs and freedoms, mentoring, and research at Harvard." Following a decision by the Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board that Harvard was in violation of the Excelsior rule, Garber has defended the university's appeal to the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C., writing that the university "believes that the November 2016 election results, which reflect the votes and voices of well-informed students, should stand, and has appealed the Regional Director's decision to the contrary." On December 3, 2019, Harvard's graduate student union began striking on Harvard's campus due to the university's opposition to contractual changes. The union's proposed changes include pay increases based on rising living-costs, expanded healthcare coverage for dependents, improved mental health services benefits, as well as third-party oversight of sexual harassment and assault cases.

Pharmaceutical board memberships

In October 2019, ''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...

'' reported that Garber collected more than $2.7 million serving on the board of directors for

Exelixis Exelixis, Inc. is a genomics-based drug discovery company located in Alameda, California, and the producer of Cometriq, a treatment approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for medullary thyroid cancer with clinical activity in se ...

and

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Vertex Pharmaceuticals is an American biopharmaceutical company based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was one of the first biotech firms to use an explicit strategy of rational drug design rather than combinatorial chemistry. It maintains headqua ...

since being appointed as Harvard's Provost in 2011, according to SEC filings. The companies indicated that his compensation was normal for board members. Garber states that he has thoroughly disclosed his industry affiliations in conflict of interest forms for the university.

Personal life

Garber has a wife, Anne Yahanda, and four children.

References