Campus & Community

Sweet named administration, finance dean for FAS

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Harvard University Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Dean Michael D. Smith has announced the appointment of Brett C. Sweet as FAS dean for administration and finance, effective Sept. 2.

Sweet will assume the redefined executive dean’s position that has been held on an interim basis by Robert Scalise. Scalise will return to his position as Harvard’s director of athletics.

In a message to the faculty, Smith said Sweet “will provide leadership for our administrative functions and will collaborate” with the central University administration. “Also, working closely with the academic deans, he will help me to address the challenges, opportunities, and priorities before the FAS,” Smith said. Smith also thanked Scalise for his many contributions to the faculty.

“Brett Sweet will be a terrific addition to the FAS administrative team. He will bring to the position a strong financial background, strategic planning experience, and the leadership skills needed to move us forward as we pursue our many goals and objectives,” Smith said.

Sweet is an accomplished leader of university operations. He is currently executive vice president for administration and finance and chief financial officer at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in Houston. In that capacity, he is responsible for the college’s finances, information technology, human resources, facilities, business operations, and investments. He began his tenure at BCM in 2004 as vice president for finance and chief financial officer responsible for financial planning and analysis, grants and contracts, and student financial services, among other areas.

From 2000 to 2004, Sweet was a principal with the Boston Consulting Group in the United States and in Germany where his work focused on competitive strategies and change management in large, multinational organizations as well as academic medical centers and colleges.

Prior to that, Sweet was a nuclear submarine officer on the USS Georgia, responsible for tactical and strategic employment of the submarine, its strategic missile systems, and the supporting reactor plant. In addition, during and after graduating from college, Sweet spent time as a cryptographic researcher.

Sweet holds an M.B.A. degree from Harvard (2000) and a B.S. in mathematics from the U.S. Naval Academy (1993).