The Harvard alumni committee recently released the official list of ]Harvard Board of Overseers and elected directors of the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA), that eligible graduates can vote on to be members of the university's Board of Supervisors.

What does it take to get elected?

The elections, which will officially begin on March 31 and end at 5:00 p.m. (EDT) on May 16, will allow voters to vote online or by paper.

“All holders of Harvard degrees as of Jan. 1, except officers of instruction and government at Harvard and members of the Harvard Corporation, are entitled to vote for Overseer candidates,” wrote the university. 

The candidates were selected by the nominating committee appointed by the volunteer leadership of the Harvard Alumni Association and will be considered by voters for five anticipated vacancies on the Board of Supervisors and six vacancies among HAA's elected directors.

Voting members of the committee include 13 alumni with diverse backgrounds and experience, who are appointed by HAA's volunteer leadership. Committee members include three current or recent Supervisors, that provide direct knowledge of the Board's operations and needs.

For its selection, the Board takes into account:

• Candidates with previous board service and an understanding of complex organizations
• Experiences and achievements in an academic or professional domain
• Broad interest in and concern for higher education, including the interests of Harvard and the overall quality and continued development of its educational and research mission
• Commitment to invest the time and energy necessary for effective service
• Ability to lead and build consensus

Through its set of standing committees and the approximately 50 visiting committees that report to them, the Board assesses the quality of Harvard's programs and ensures that the University remains true to its status as a place of learning.

The Board also provides advice to university leadership on priorities, plans, and strategic initiatives.

A nominated LCDA member

One of the nominees is Luis A. Ubiñas, a member of the Latino Corporate Directors Association (LCDA).

“It is with great humility that I share my nomination to the Harvard University Board of Overseers. As a first generation, full scholarship student from the South Bronx, being a candidate for this role is an opportunity to serve that I never imagined I would have,” Ubiñas wrote on his LinkedIn profile. 

Supervisor candidates

HAA's nominating committee has proposed the following candidates for the 2023 election:

1. Sylvia Mathews Burwell

A.B. ’87

B.A. ’90, University of Oxford

Washington, D.C.

Sylvia Mathews Burwell is president of American University and former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

2. Jeffrey D. Dunn

A.B. ’77, M.B.A. ’81

Boston

Jeffrey Dunn is interim president and CEO of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and former executive chair, president, and CEO of Sesame Workshop.

3. Arturo Elizondo

A.B. ’14

San Francisco

Arturo Elizondo is co-founder and CEO of The EVERY Company (formerly Clara Foods), which is out to unlock the potential of animal-free proteins.

4. Srishti Gupta Narasimhan

A.B. ’97, A.M. ’97, M.D. ’03, M.P.P. ’03

M.Phil ’98, University of Cambridge

Basel, Switzerland

Srishti Gupta Narasimhan, formerly of McKinsey & Co., is a board director of Idorsia Pharmaceuticals and the Norrsken Foundation.

Meet the candidates for the 2023 Harvard Board of Overseers: https://t.co/T05MOFy2aw

— Harvard Alumni Association (@HarvardAlumni) January 20, 2023

5. Fiona Hill

A.M. ’91, Ph.D. ’98

M.A. ’89, University of St. Andrews

Bethesda, Maryland

Fiona Hill, former National Security Council senior director for European and Russian Affairs, is chancellor of Durham University (U.K.) and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.  

6. Vanessa W. Liu

A.B. ’96, J.D. ’03

New York, New York

Vanessa Liu is founder and CEO of Sugarwork, a software company that enables flexible work and knowledge transfer, and a past president of the Harvard Alumni Association.

7. Robert L. Satcher Jr.

M.D. ’94

S.B. ’86, Ph.D. ’93, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Houston

Robert Satcher, a former NASA astronaut, is associate professor of orthopedic oncology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

8. Luis A. Ubiñas

A.B. ’85, M.B.A. ’89

Weston, Vermont

Luis Ubiñas is former president of the Ford Foundation and current chair of the Statue of Liberty – Ellis Island Foundation.