Frances D. Fergusson to Chair Library Visiting Committee

Beginning July 1, 2006, Frances D. Fergusson AM '66, PhD '73, will chair the Overseers' Committee to Visit the Harvard University Library. Fergusson recently completed a dynamic 20-year tenure as president of Vassar College, during which she invigorated Vassar's academic offerings, added strong multidisciplinary programs in environmental and Jewish studies, oversaw the comprehensive integration of technology into disciplines across the curriculum, and inspired unprecedented growth in contributed support to the 146-year-old college. On her watch, Vassar added significant new facilities and renovated many of its historic buildings. Notably, Fergusson oversaw a significant expansion of the Vassar Libraries by the noted architect Hugh Hardy. An architectural historian and a passionate advocate for liberal arts education, Frances Fergusson is a graduate of Wellesley who earned her master's and doctoral degrees in art history at Harvard. She was a Radcliffe Institute Fellow in 1974-1975. She succeeds Dudley Fishburn as chair of the Visiting Committee.

"The importance of the Harvard Libraries cannot be overstated," Fergusson recently remarked. "The range and the depth of the collections are central to the academic experience of every Harvard student. At the same time, the library holdings are indispensable for scholars around the world. The Harvard Libraries, then, have a dual mission: to serve Harvard and the world. As a result of advanced technology, that mission is evolving rapidly. For all of us on the Visiting Committee, the coming years will be a voyage of discovery as we seek to guide the Harvard Libraries for the long-term future."

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