Harvard makes a move at the top, but little has been settled

Interim president should resign from the boards of two drug companies

I want to thank Elizabeth Koh and Daniel Kool for their article “Insider named interim president as board looks for some stability” (Page A1, Jan. 3), regarding Dr. Alan M. Garber, who was named interim president of Harvard University following the resignation of Claudine Gay. The authors note that Garber has continued to serve on the boards of directors for two pharmaceutical companies while working as provost at Harvard since 2011. Garber has been paid millions of dollars since joining the board of Exelixis Inc. as a director in 2005 and $438,442 in fiscal 2022 alone. Similarly, as a director at Vertex Pharmaceuticals since 2017, Garber has been paid millions, including $525,018 in fiscal 2022. As Harvard provost, Garber received $946,159 in salary for 2021.

Why does it matter if interim president Garber is also a director of a for-profit company such as Exelixis or Vertex? Because as a director at a for-profit company, he has a fiduciary responsibility to advocate for the growth, profits, and shareholders of that company. Given the turmoil at Harvard, how can this conflict of interest not be disqualifying for an incoming interim president?

Garber should resign from all outside directorships, and the Harvard Corporation should insist that any future president of Harvard University be free of such conflicts.

DR. CAROLYN BECKER

Jamaica Plain

The writer is a part-time associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and is affiliated with the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Hypertension at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The views expressed here are her own.