Drew Gilpin Faust

Drew Gilpin Faust is a renowned American historian and academic administrator, best known for her tenure as the President of Harvard University from 2007 to 2018. She is the Lincoln Professor of History at Harvard University and has written extensively on the American Civil War and the Reconstruction Era, with a particular focus on the experiences of Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, and Frederick Douglass. Faust's work has been influenced by historians such as C. Vann Woodward and David Herbert Donald, and she has been recognized for her contributions to the field of American history by organizations like the American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians. Her academic background includes degrees from Bryn Mawr College and the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied under prominent historians like Thomas C. Cochran and Roy F. Nichols.

● Early Life and Education

Drew Gilpin Faust was born in New York City and raised in Virginia, where she developed an interest in American history and the American Civil War. She attended Bryn Mawr College, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and was influenced by professors like Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz and Natalie Zemon Davis. Faust then pursued graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania, earning a Master of Arts and Ph.D. in American civilization under the guidance of historians like Thomas C. Cochran and Roy F. Nichols. Her academic background also includes a stint as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Cambridge, where she studied under the supervision of Sir Geoffrey Elton and Quentin Skinner.

● Career

Faust's academic career began at the University of Pennsylvania, where she taught American history and women's history courses, including classes on the American Revolution, the Civil War and Reconstruction, and the women's suffrage movement. She later joined the faculty at Harvard University, becoming the Lincoln Professor of History and teaching courses on American history, historiography, and cultural history, with a focus on the works of historians like David Hackett Fischer and Gordon S. Wood. Faust has also held visiting appointments at institutions like the University of California, Berkeley, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, where she has worked with scholars like Thomas Laqueur and Carlo Ginzburg. Her research has been supported by grants from organizations like the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Guggenheim Foundation.

● Presidency of Harvard University

Faust became the first female President of Harvard University in 2007, succeeding Lawrence Summers and leading the institution through a period of significant change and growth, including the launch of initiatives like the Harvard Campaign and the Harvard Innovation Lab. During her tenure, Faust oversaw the development of new academic programs, including the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government's Master in Public Policy program and the Harvard Graduate School of Education's Doctor of Education program. She also played a key role in shaping the university's response to issues like climate change, diversity and inclusion, and access to higher education, working with leaders like Al Gore, Malala Yousafzai, and Sonia Sotomayor. Faust's presidency was marked by collaborations with other institutions, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Stanford University, and the University of Cambridge, as well as partnerships with organizations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Ford Foundation.

● Awards and Honors

Faust has received numerous awards and honors for her contributions to American history and higher education, including the National Humanities Medal, the Jefferson Lecture, and the Bancroft Prize. She has been recognized by organizations like the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, and the National Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has received honorary degrees from institutions like Yale University, Princeton University, and the University of Oxford. Faust has also been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, and has served on the boards of organizations like the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

● Personal Life

Faust is married to Charles E. Rosenberg, a historian of science and medicine at Harvard University, and has two children, Jessica Rosenberg Faust and Leah Rosenberg Faust. She is a member of the American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians, and has served on the boards of institutions like the Library of Congress and the National Archives and Records Administration. Faust has also been involved in various philanthropic efforts, including the Harvard University Fund and the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.

● Works

Faust's published works include Mothers of Invention: Women of the Slaveholding South in the American Civil War and This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War, which have been widely praised by scholars like Eric Foner and Doris Kearns Goodwin. Her books have won numerous awards, including the Bancroft Prize and the Pulitzer Prize for History, and have been recognized by organizations like the National Book Critics Circle and the Society of American Historians. Faust has also edited several volumes, including The Ideology of Slavery: Proslavery Thought in the Antebellum South, 1830-1860 and The Oxford Handbook of the American Civil War, which feature contributions from historians like Gary W. Gallagher and James M. McPherson. Her work has been translated into multiple languages, including French, German, and Spanish, and has been widely reviewed in publications like The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, and The Times Literary Supplement.