Harvard President's Challenge

Harvard President's Challenge
Name	Harvard President's Challenge
Type	Academic initiative
Founded	2006
Founder	Drew Faust
Headquarters	Cambridge, Massachusetts
Affiliation	Harvard University

Contents

Harvard President's Challenge is an initiative launched at Harvard University to fund and catalyze interdisciplinary projects addressing public health, technology, and community engagement. The initiative was announced by Drew Faust and coordinated with offices such as the Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard Medical School, and the Harvard Kennedy School. Early publicity connected the Challenge to collaborations involving institutions like Massachusetts General Hospital, Broad Institute, and the Harvard Innovation Labs.

History

The Challenge originated in 2006 under the leadership of Drew Faust as part of a broader institutional emphasis that included partnerships with Harvard Business School, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Initial rounds solicited proposals from faculties affiliated with centers such as the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard Stem Cell Institute, and the Harvard Global Health Institute. Over successive cycles the program attracted collaboration with entities including Partners HealthCare, MIT, Boston Children's Hospital, and the National Institutes of Health, prompting coverage in outlets like The Boston Globe and mentions at forums such as the Aspen Ideas Festival.

The stated aims emphasized translational research and practical outcomes, aligning with priorities set by leadership figures including Drew Faust and leaders at the Harvard Corporation and the Harvard Board of Overseers. Goals targeted public-interest outcomes by encouraging proposals that linked faculty from the Harvard School of Public Health, practitioners from Massachusetts General Hospital, and technologists from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. The Challenge sought to leverage institutional resources from centers such as the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Data Science Initiative, and Harvard Innovation Labs to create scalable interventions comparable to initiatives at universities like Stanford University and University of Oxford.

Governance was managed through committees composed of faculty, administrators, and external advisors drawn from institutions such as Harvard Business School, Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Medical School, and partner organizations including The Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Review panels included experts from the National Science Foundation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and academic departments across Harvard, including the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine and the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology. Administrative oversight involved offices such as the Office of the President of Harvard University and coordination with centers like the Harvard Innovation Labs and the Office for Faculty Affairs.

The Challenge ran competitive grant rounds and pilot-program solicitations modeled on mechanisms used by entities like the MacArthur Foundation and the Simons Foundation. Programs awarded seed funding and connected winners to incubator resources at the Harvard Innovation Labs, mentorship from faculty at Harvard Business School, and clinical partnerships with Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital. Parallel initiatives included workshops hosted with collaborators such as the Harvard Kennedy School and convenings featuring speakers from World Health Organization, United Nations, and industry partners like Google and Microsoft Research.

Winners and grantees included interdisciplinary teams spanning laboratories in the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, clinical units at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and policy labs at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Resulting projects produced collaborations with the Broad Institute, licensing discussions with companies originating from the Harvard Office of Technology Development, and follow-on funding from the National Institutes of Health and private philanthropies such as the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Several projects informed curricula at the Harvard School of Public Health and spurred spinouts that later engaged investors from Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz.

The Challenge influenced how Harvard University structures cross-school collaborations, reinforcing models used by peer institutions like Yale University and Princeton University. Its legacy includes strengthened ties between academic units such as the Harvard Medical School, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and precedent for future president-led initiatives at universities including Columbia University and University of California, Berkeley. The program contributed to discourse in venues such as the Harvard Gazette and academic conferences hosted by organizations like the Association of American Universities.