Lawrence Bacow — LLMpedia

Lawrence Bacow
Name	Lawrence Bacow
Birth date	1951
Birth place	Detroit, Michigan, United States
Alma mater	Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Harvard Law School
Occupation	Academic administrator; economist
Known for	Presidency of Tufts University; Presidency of Harvard University

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Lawrence Bacow Lawrence Bacow is an American academic, administrator, and scholar who served as president of Tufts University and later as the 29th president of Harvard University. He has been involved with institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard Law School, and the National Academy of Sciences, and has engaged with public policy bodies including the National Science Foundation and the Council on Foreign Relations. Bacow's career spans legal scholarship, higher education leadership, and civic involvement in organizations like the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Institute of Medicine.

Early life and education

Bacow was born in Detroit, Michigan, and raised in a family with roots in Boston, Massachusetts and Cleveland, Ohio. He attended Brookline High School in Brookline, Massachusetts before matriculating at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he studied economics and management, earning an MIT undergraduate degree. He later attended Harvard Law School for a Juris Doctor and pursued graduate study at MIT in urban and environmental planning, interacting with faculty from institutions such as Harvard University, Yale University, and Stanford University.

Bacow began his academic career on the faculty of MIT in departments connected to management and urban studies, later serving on the faculty at Harvard Law School and holding joint appointments that linked to centers at Harvard Kennedy School and the Baker Library at Harvard Business School. He engaged with interdisciplinary programs including collaborations with scholars from Princeton University, Columbia University, University of Chicago, and University of California, Berkeley. Bacow's administrative roles included deanships and provost-level responsibilities at institutions comparable to positions held by leaders at Yale, Cornell University, and University of Pennsylvania.

As president of Tufts University, Bacow oversaw academic initiatives that connected Tufts to partners such as the United Nations, World Health Organization, and regional networks including the New England Board of Higher Education and the Association of American Universities. He advocated for financial aid policies and campus expansions similar to programs at Dartmouth College and Brown University, and strengthened ties with medical institutions like the Tufts Medical Center and research collaborations resembling those at Johns Hopkins University and the Mayo Clinic. Under his leadership Tufts engaged with civic organizations including the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and foundations such as the Ford Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Bacow succeeded predecessors from a lineage including Derek Bok and Drew Gilpin Faust to become president of Harvard University, overseeing relations with colleges and faculties across the Harvard College and Harvard Medical School communities. His presidency addressed higher-education issues debated at venues like the U.S. Congress and with agencies such as the U.S. Department of Education and the National Institutes of Health. Bacow engaged with university partners including the Radcliffe Institute, Harvard Business School, Harvard Law School, and international collaborations with institutions such as Oxford University, Cambridge University, and the University of Tokyo.

Bacow's scholarship spans topics published in outlets and edited volumes associated with publishers like Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and journals akin to the Harvard Law Review and Journal of Urban Economics. His work intersects with scholars from Kenneth Arrow, Amartya Sen, and contemporaries at MIT and Harvard who study public policy, law, and environmental planning. Bacow has contributed to reports for organizations such as the National Commission on the Public Service and advisory panels for the National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council.

Bacow is a member of learned societies including the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has been associated with the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, and advisory boards for the National Science Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation. He has received honorary degrees from institutions similar to Williams College, Brandeis University, and Boston College, and awards comparable to recognitions from the American Council on Education and civic groups in Massachusetts and New England.

Bacow is married and has familial ties to the Boston area; his personal commitments include support for cultural institutions such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He has participated in philanthropic efforts with organizations like the United Way, the Greater Boston Food Bank, and local education initiatives tied to the Boston Public Schools and nonprofit foundations including the Ford Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Category:Harvard University administrators