A Year of Mutual Learning and Reflection
Loeb Fellows are experienced practitioners who are shaping the built and natural environment in the U.S. and around the world. Urban planners and designers, public artists, real estate developers, landscape architects, journalists, civic leaders, architects, policymakers, social entrepreneurs, and more, these proven leaders step away from their professional lives for one academic year to strengthen their knowledge and impact, to broaden or refocus their careers, and to encourage deeper social engagement with their work.
Fundamental to the Loeb Fellowship is the belief that the experience of the year in residence is enhanced by sharing it with people from a wide variety of cultural heritages, lived experiences, and professional backgrounds. A completed degree in higher education is not a requirement to apply for the Loeb Fellowship. Professionals with atypical backgrounds or unusual career paths, who have demonstrated the capacity to make a difference in their fields, are encouraged to apply.
During their time at the GSD, Fellows audit classes at the School and across Harvard and MIT. They engage with students and faculty, take part in public programs and Fellowship events, and learn alongside one another in a community of peers. They also join a growing network of leaders passionately committed to revitalizing communities.
History
“The Fellowship has an important role in the design world,” says former curator John Peterson. “For over 50 years, the Fellowship has steadfastly championed those who are shaping the built and natural environment as significant players for positive social outcomes.”
The Loeb Fellowship traces its roots to 1968, when John L. Loeb was chair of a capital campaign at the GSD called “Crisis: The chaos in our cities, the loss of control over our environment, the urgent need for leadership for the future.” Loeb saw the American city in disarray and believed Harvard could be a part of the solution. He and the first Loeb curator, William Doebele, imagined bringing highly promising innovators of the built and natural environment to the GSD for one year, challenging them to do more and do better, convinced they would return to their work with new tools, insight, and resolve.
Now in its sixth decade, the Loeb Fellowship continues to support leaders who are ready to reflect, grow, and spark change in the built and natural environment.
Staff
James Stockard
Lecturer in Urban Planning and DesignSusan Mahoney
Program DirectorLoeb Fellowship
Kweta Henry
Coordinator of Loeb FellowshipLoeb Fellowship