Claudine Gay

Claudine Gay
Gay in 2023
30th President of Harvard University
In office
July 1, 2023  January 2, 2024
Preceded byLawrence Bacow
Succeeded byAlan Garber
Dean of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences
In office
August 15, 2018  June 30, 2023
Preceded byMichael Smith
Succeeded byEmma Dench (interim)
Hopi Hoekstra
Personal details
Born (1970-08-04) August 4, 1970
New York City, U.S.
SpouseChristopher Afendulis
Children1
RelativesRoxane Gay (cousin)
EducationPrinceton University
Stanford University (BA)
Harvard University (PhD)
Academic background
ThesisTaking charge: Black electoral success and the redefinition of American politics (1997)
Doctoral advisorGary King
Academic work
DisciplinePolitical science
InstitutionsStanford University (2000–2006)
Harvard University (2006–present)

Claudine Gay (born August 4, 1970) is an American political scientist who is the Wilbur A. Cowett Professor of Government and of African and African-American Studies at Harvard University. Her research focuses on American political behavior, including voter turnout and politics of race and identity.

Gay served as the dean of Social Sciences at Harvard from 2015 to 2018, as the dean of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences from 2018 to 2023, and as the 30th president of Harvard University from July 2023 to January 2024.

In December 2023, Gay and two other university presidents faced pressure from the public and from a Congressional committee to resign, over responses to alleged instances of antisemitic violence on the campus. Gay was also accused of plagiarism in some of her past works (including her dissertation), partly by the same committee. In January 2024, she resigned from the presidency.