The next Union College president is David Harris

Union College president David HarrisUnion College announced Tuesday that its next president will be David R. Harris, a 48-year-old sociologist who's currently the provost at Tufts. He'll succeed Stephen Ainlay, who's set to leave the post at the end of the current academic year after 12 years in the role.

Harris's CV includes undergrad and PhD at Northwestern, academic and administrative positions at Cornell, and time spent working for the US Department of Health and Human Services during the Obama admin. Press release blurbage:

In his time at Tufts, Harris has been a transformational leader with an impressive record of achievement. Shortly after joining the administration, he led a year-long effort to create Tufts' first-ever, university-wide strategic plan. From that plan emerged many new initiatives, including 1 + 4, a program to energize civic renewal by providing students an opportunity to engage in a year of international or national service before starting at Tufts. The strategic plan also led to the creation of Bridge Professorships, which span two or more schools to advance research and teaching on complex issues.
At Tufts, Harris also established the new position of chief diversity officer and associate provost, and he launched Bridging Differences, an initiative to empower the Tufts community to develop the skills necessary to engage in informed and civil discussion around some of today's most challenging topics.
Widely known for his warm and welcoming personality, Harris has worked hard to connect with the Tufts community. In partnership with the Tufts Cycling Team, he created the Tufts Century Ride - a 100-mile bike trek through the three Tufts campuses that garners a great deal of community participation each year.

Harris was recently involved in an episode at Tufts in which administrators revoked a speaking invitation from Anthony Scaramucci (himself a Tufts grad) after he threatened legal action against a Tufts sophomore over an op-ed. [Tufts Daily] [Boston.com]

According to his website, Harris's academic work has focused on race, ethnicity, and higher education; mixed-race identity and interracial relationships; residential mobility; racial differences in suburbanization.

Harris set to become just the 19th president in Union's 223-year history. His term starts July 1.

Disclosure: AOA editor Greg Dahlmann serves as a community representative on a human subjects review board for Union College.

photo via Union College

Say Something!

We'd really like you to take part in the conversation here at All Over Albany. But we do have a few rules here. Don't worry, they're easy. The first: be kind. The second: treat everyone else with the same respect you'd like to see in return. Cool? Great, post away. Comments are moderated so it might take a little while for your comment to show up. Thanks for being patient.

What's All Over Albany?

All Over Albany is for interested and interesting people in New York's Capital Region. In other words, it's for you. It's kind of like having a smart, savvy friend who can help you find out what's up. Oh, and our friends call us AOA.

Search

Recently on All Over Albany

Thank you!

When we started AOA a decade ago we had no idea what was going to happen. And it turned out better than we could have... (more)

Let's stay in touch

This all feels like the last day of camp or something. And we're going to miss you all so much. But we'd like to stay... (more)

A few things I think about this place

Working on AOA over the past decade has been a life-changing experience for me and it's shaped the way I think about so many things.... (more)

Albany tightened its rules for shoveling snowy sidewalks last winter -- so how'd that work out?

If winter ever gets its act together and drops more snow on us, there will be sidewalks to shovel. And shortly after that, Albany will... (more)

Tea with Jack McEneny

Last week we were fortunate enough to spend a few minutes with Jack McEneny -- former state Assemblyman, unofficial Albany historian, and genuinely nice guy.... (more)

Recent Comments

My three year old son absolutely loving riding the train around Huck Finn's (Hoffman's) Playland this summer.

Thank you!

...has 27 comments, most recently from Ashley

Let's stay in touch

...has 4 comments, most recently from mg

A look inside 2 Judson Street

...has 3 comments, most recently from Diane (Agans) Boyle

Everything changes: Alicia Lea

...has 2 comments, most recently from Chaz Boyark

A few things I think about this place

...has 13 comments, most recently from Katherine