New Faculty

Welcome to the Graduate School of Design! For over eighty years, the GSD has pioneered excellence in the practice of design, education, and research. As designers, planners, historians, critics, and educators, we strive to shepherd the world toward a future that we envision for a better tomorrow. To succeed, we all need to work together to cultivate a shared sense of ethical judgment, an expansive sense of empathy, and a keen sense of our social contract as global citizens—our contract with one another here at the GSD, and across this fragile planet that we all inhabit. Design, planning, policy, and history can’t be done alone, and none of our work can be done quickly: gaining the expertise of the core, ensuring our relevance, and expanding our audience all take time and patience. Thank you for joining us on this endeavor!

New Faculty Orientation

Orientation Programs for New Faculty

Each year the GSD offers orientation events for all new faculty members. Our goal is to welcome you to the GSD and Harvard University community and connect you to the resources you need to make your transition to GSD as smooth as possible.

Please review the information below to learn more details on the orientation sessions and the resources available.

SAVE THE DATES!

New GSD Faculty Orientation
Thursday, September 5 (noon – 2:30pm) in Gund Hall, Stubbins/Room 112
An opportunity to meet Dean Whiting and other administrators over lunch, meet other new faculty, and hear about campus updates, and resources to help you get started. Please RSVP for the orientation here.

Frances Loeb Library Orientation and Overview of Resources
Wednesday, September 11 (11:00am – noon) in the Frances Loeb Library
Hosted by: Ann Whiteside, Director of the Frances Loeb Library/Assistant Dean for Information Services; J Armstrong, Access Services Librarian & Digital Reserves Manager and Strategist; and Alix Reiskind, Research and Teaching Team Lead Librarian, this is an opportunity to learn about our collections, access services, research and teaching offerings, and resources. Please RSVP via the Outlook calendar invite.

Tenure Track Process & Research Resources Orientation for new tenure-track faculty members
Monday, September 16 (noon – 1:30pm) in Gund 123 over lunch. Please RSVP via the Outlook calendar invite.

HILT Conference: Open Minds in Dialogue
Friday, September 20 at the Harvard Graduate School of Education
Hosted by the Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching (HILT), Office of the Vice Provost for Advances in Learning

Tour of the Harvard Data Science Initiative
Wednesday, October 16 (11:00am – noon) Meet in the lobby of Gund Hall to walk to the HDSI together. Please RSVP via the Outlook calendar invite.

The Faculty Affairs Office is always available to answer any questions that are not covered here, and we encourage you to refer to our Faculty Affairs Office Resource Center or contact us if you have additional questions.

New Faculty To Do Checklist

New Faculty-to-Do Checklist

Bronze mother duck with ducklings following behind

For more information on faculty policies, teaching resources, hiring TAs, benefits, and other work/life resources, please visit the Faculty Affairs Office Resource Center.

Academic Resources

GSD Calendars & Directories

A green H logo for the GSD superimposed over a photograph of the facade of Gund Hall. Text reads Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

Academic Calendars & Schedules

GSD Faculty Directory 

GSD Staff Directory 

GSD stationery/business cards

Start of Term Resources for Faculty

University Updates for Fall 2024

Aerial View of Harvard Camus along Charles River, Cambridge, MA In April 2024, two initiatives led by Provost, John Manning, were established to address aspects of our campus climate that are critical to the success of Harvard’s mission of teaching, learning, and research:

  • The Open Inquiry and Constructive Dialogue Working Group is charged with examining how to foster engagement across differing viewpoints as we teach, learn, and interact more broadly with one another throughout the University. It will build on the many initiatives already under way throughout Harvard that cultivate and support constructive disagreement.
  • The Institutional Voice Working Group was established to consider whether and when our institution should issue official statements on publicly salient issues. This working group will recommend concrete answers to questions such as: Should the University make official, institutional declarations about matters of social and political significance? Who is authorized to speak for the University on these issues, and how? The Working Group’s report, contains a set of principles and recommendations that ground the use of institutional voice in the University’s mission of “seeking truth through open inquiry, debate, and weighing . . . evidence.”

On January 19, 2024, President Alan M. Garber announced two presidential task forces: one devoted to combating antisemitism and one devoted to combating anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bias.

Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery: The first phase of the initiative’s work was to uncover the truth of Harvard’s ties to slavery through deep research guided by a committee of distinguished faculty drawn from across the University. This research provides a strong foundation for our next phase: the process of reckoning and repair.

Presidential Task Force on Inclusion and Belonging: A community that draws on the widest possible pool of talent, one that fully embraces individuals from varied backgrounds, cultures, races, identities, life experiences, perspectives, beliefs, and values, is a more just community. It is also an environment in which learning, creativity, and discovery can flourish. Harvard aspires to be such a place. Diversity, inclusion, and belonging are not incidental concerns; they are fundamental to Harvard’s mission and identity.

Harvard University Office for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging works with stakeholders and partners across the University to guide Harvard’s culture toward inclusive excellence.

Harvard-wide Resources

A vintage photograph shows a girl in a white dress jumping on rocks. A fountain sprays mist on the rocks.
Tanner Fountain, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, Peter Walker and the SWA Group.
  • MessageMe is Harvard University’s emergency notification system.
  • For navigating Life at Harvard, the Campus Map and the Harvard International Office’s Welcome Guide are helpful resources.
  • Office of the Vice Provost for Research: The OVPR reviews, develops, and implements Harvard’s research-related policies, as well as the organization and execution of academic research, especially in the sciences.
  • The Harvard Federal Credit Union (HFCU) exclusively serves the Harvard community, providing a complete line of services (banking and loans) for all your financial needs.
  • Guide to Harvard Terms and Acronyms
  • Harvard Info Center and Tours: Harvard University established the Visitor Center in 1962 as the front door to the University, where students greet visitors from all over the world, answer questions about campus, and provide official tours of Harvard.
  • Harvard Police Department: The mission of the Harvard University Police Department is to maintain a safe and secure campus by providing quality policing in partnership with the community.
  • Faculty Development and Diversity: National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD) focuses on skills for thriving in today’s academy, such as strategic planning, productivity, work-life balance, and healthy relationships. FD&D hosts an institutional membership with the NCFDD, allowing their resources to supplement those that Schools and other units may provide.