List of University Professors at Harvard University
At Harvard University, the title of University Professor is the institution's most distinguished professorial post,[1] and is conferred upon a select group of tenured faculty members whose scholarship and other professional work have achieved exceptional distinction and influence.[2] Established in 1935, this position enables scholars to work across disciplines and at any of Harvard's schools.[2]
The number of University Professors has increased over time, made possible by new endowed gifts to the university. In 2006, there were 21 University Professors.[3] As of 2022, the total has risen to 25 University Professors.[4]
Present Harvard University Professors
Biologists or medical researchers
- Marc Kirschner[5] – John Franklin Enders University Professor
- Douglas A. Melton[6] – Xander University Professor
- Arlene H. Sharpe[7] – Kolokotrones University Professorship
- Catherine Dulac[8] – Xander University Professor
Economists
- Claudia Goldin[9] – Samuel W. Morris University Professor
- Rebecca M. Henderson[6] – John and Natty McArthur University Professor
- Eric Maskin[10] – Adams University Professor
- Sir Oliver Hart[11] – Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor
- Michael Porter[12] – Bishop William Lawrence University Professor
- Amartya Sen – Thomas W. Lamont University Professor
- Lawrence Summers[13] – Charles W. Eliot University Professor
Historians and lawyers
- Ann M. Blair[14] – Carl H. Pforzheimer University Professor
- Peter Galison[15] – Joseph Pellegrino University Professor
- Annette Gordon-Reed[16] – Carl M. Loeb University Professor
- Noah Feldman[17] – A. Kingsley Porter University Professor
- Cass Sunstein[18] – Robert Walmsley University Professor
- Martha Minow[15] – Three Hundredth Anniversary University Professor
Political scientists
- Danielle Allen – James Bryant Conant University Professor
- Gary King[5] – Albert J. Weatherhead III University Professor
Other disciplines
- Carolyn Abbate[19] – Paul and Catherine Buttenwieser University Professor
- Henry Louis Gates Jr.[3] – Alphonse Fletcher University Professor
- Stephen Greenblatt[20] – John Cogan University Professor
- Mikhail Lukin[21] – Joshua and Beth Friedman University Professor
- Barry Mazur[22] – Gerhard Gade University Professor
- Cumrun Vafa[17] – Timken University Professor
- Robert J. Sampson[23] – Woodford L. and Ann A. Flowers University Professor
Noteable Past Harvard University Professors
- Paul Farmer[24] – Kolokotrones University Professor
- Dale W. Jorgenson – Samuel W. Morris University Professor
- Robert Nozick - Joseph Pellegrino University Professor [25]
- Stephen Owen – James Bryant Conant University Professor
- Cornel West – Alphonse Fletcher University Professor, resigned chair and left Harvard in 2002[26]
- George Whitesides - Woodford L. and Ann A. Flowers University Professor[27]
- E. O. Wilson – Joseph Pellegrino University Professor
References
- ^ "Three Named University Professors". Harvard University Gazette. May 28, 1998. Archived from the original on May 23, 2011. Retrieved July 17, 2009.
- ^ a b "University Professorships". Harvard University Office of News and Public Affairs. 2014. Retrieved January 21, 2015. Note, this does not include all Professors at the campus.
- ^ a b "Gates named Fletcher University Professor". Harvard University Gazette. October 26, 2006. Archived from the original on November 4, 2006. Retrieved July 17, 2009.
- ^ "University Professorships | Harvard University". Harvard University. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
- ^ a b Kavoussi, Bonnie J. (August 3, 2009). "King, Kirschner Named University Professors". Harvard Crimson. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
- ^ a b "Faculty Two named University Professors". Harvard Gazette. September 27, 2011. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
- ^ "Harvard names three new University Professors". Harvard Gazette. November 28, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
- ^ "Harvard appoints four University Professors". Harvard Gazette. October 29, 2025. Retrieved October 29, 2025.
- ^ "Harvard appoints four University Professors". Harvard Gazette. October 29, 2025. Retrieved October 29, 2025.
- ^ "Maskin named University Professor". Harvard Gazette. September 6, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
- ^ "Oliver Hart named University Professor, highest faculty honor". Harvard Gazette. March 2, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
- ^ Gavel, Doug (December 7, 2000). "Michael Porter named University Professor". Harvard Gazette. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
- ^ "Summers named Charles W. Eliot University Professor". June 30, 2006. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
- ^ "Ann Blair named University Professor". Harvard Gazette. November 23, 2015. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
- ^ a b "Minow named University Professor". Harvard Gazette. June 19, 2018. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
- ^ "Annette Gordon-Reed named University Professor". Harvard Gazette. July 28, 2020. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
- ^ a b Murphy, Terry (October 29, 2025). "Harvard appoints four University Professors". Harvard Gazette. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
- ^ "Sunstein a University Professor". Harvard Gazette. February 19, 2013. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
- ^ "Abbate named University Professor". Harvard Gazette. November 20, 2013. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
- ^ "Greenblatt named University Professor of the Humanities". Harvard University Gazette. September 21, 2000. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
- ^ "Quantum Physicist Mikhail Lukin Appointed University Professor | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
- ^ Kamath, Vasant M. (November 3, 1998). "Mazur Named University Professor". Harvard Crimson. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
- ^ "Three Harvard Scholars Named University Professors, Highest Faculty Distinction | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
- ^ "Paul Farmer appointed University Professor". Harvard Gazette. December 16, 2010. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
- ^ "Robert Nozick, 1938–2002". Archived April 12, 2019, at the Wayback Machine Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association, November 2002: 76(2).
- ^ Cornel West Quitting Harvard. The Washington Post. April 13, 2002. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
- ^ "George Whitesides | Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology".