Overseers announce new president, vice chair

Sylvia Mathews Burwell ’87, former president of American University and former secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has been elected president of the Harvard University Board of Overseers for the 2025-2026 academic year.

Monica Bharel, M.P.H. ’12, a physician, public health leader at Google Health, and former commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, will serve as vice chair of the board’s executive committee for the same term.

Burwell and Bharel assume the board’s top leadership roles succeeding Vivian Hunt ’89, M.B.A. ’95, chief innovation officer of UnitedHealth Group, and Tyler Jacks ’83, a cancer genetics research expert and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who served in the roles over the past academic year.

“Sylvia Burwell and Monica Bharel are accomplished alumni leaders whose experience overcoming complex challenges under extraordinary circumstances will serve Harvard well,” said President Alan Garber. “At the helm of a university, at the highest levels of government, and in two of the world’s largest philanthropic foundations, Sylvia has demonstrated a keen understanding of large multifaceted organizations and what it takes to advance them. As a physician, a public health expert, and a government leader, Monica has combined compassion with evidence-based solutions to keep people healthy throughout the region and across the country. I am grateful to them both for their leadership and for their commitment to the University.”

The Board of Overseers is one of Harvard’s two governing boards and its members are made up of and elected by Harvard alumni. Formally established in 1642, the board plays an integral role in the governance of the University. As a central part of its work, the board directs the visitation process, the primary means for periodic external assessment of Harvard’s Schools and departments. Through its array of standing committees, and the roughly 50 visiting committees that report to them, the board probes the quality of Harvard’s programs and assures that the University remains true to its charter as a place of learning.

More generally, drawing on its members’ diverse experience and expertise, the board provides counsel to the University’s leadership on priorities, plans, and strategic initiatives. The board also has the power of consent to certain actions, such as the election of members of the Corporation, Harvard’s other governing board.  

Sylvia Mathews Burwell

Sylvia Mathews Burwell is a widely experienced leader who has served at the highest levels of government, philanthropy, and academia. Burwell was the 15th president of American University, after having served as Secretary of Health and Human Services from 2014 to 2017 and director of the Office of Management and Budget from 2013 to 2014. As HHS Secretary, she managed a trillion-dollar department with 12 operating divisions — including the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and Medicaid and Medicare programs.

 “It’s an honor to serve as president of the Board of Overseers in the year ahead,” said Burwell.

“I came to Harvard as a freshman, having grown up in Hinton, West Virginia, where everyone knows one another, and where the idea of community is fundamental,” she continued. “My grandparents immigrated to this country with hopes and dreams for their children and their families. My background, together with my time at Harvard, has shaped my understanding of the importance of contributing to this nation and the role community plays in the health of our institutions and country.

“This is a time of serious consequence for higher education, our nation’s students, and for Harvard. I look forward to working closely with President Garber, with my colleagues on the Board of Overseers, with members of the Harvard campus and alumni community to listen and to advance the University’s core teaching, learning, and research mission so that other students can benefit and the University can continue its work improving the lives, livelihoods, and communities of people across the country and around the world.”

As AU president, Burwell steered the university through the COVID-19 pandemic and led the development and implementation of the Changemakers for a Changing World strategic plan, as well as the $500 million Change Can’t Wait campaign, the most successful such campaign in the university’s history. The campaign resulted in the creation of four new and expanded research centers, eight endowed faculty positions, and more than 170 scholarships. Under her leadership, AU opened the Sine Institute for Policy and Politics, the Khan Cyber and Economic Security Institute, and the LEED-Gold Hall of Science.

Burwell also held executive positions at two of the largest foundations in the world — she served as chief operating officer and president of the Global Development Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle, and as president of the Walmart Foundation based in Bentonville, Arkansas.

She has served on numerous higher education boards and is on the board of Kimberly Clark, Guidewell Florida Blue, and the Council on Foreign Relations. She is a past board member of the University of Washington Medical Center.

Born and raised in Hinton, a small West Virginia town with a population of around 3,000, Burwell’s family was committed to service in their community. Her mother was a teacher who also served as mayor for nearly a decade. Her father was an optometrist by trade but occasionally filled in as minister at the local Episcopal church when needed. Both sets of maternal and paternal grandparents emigrated from Greece.

Burwell concentrated in political science and government at Harvard. She received an A.B. in philosophy, politics, and economics from the University of Oxford, which she attended as a Rhodes Scholar in 1990.

Monica Bharel

Monica Bharel is a physician, public health leader, medical educator, and public servant. As the global clinical lead in public sector and public health at Google, Bharel works to harness technology to solve public health challenges, using the power of data and analytics to drive innovations in advancing health outcomes for all.

 “It’s an immense honor to serve in this role alongside my fellow Overseers and with President Garber and leaders across the University,” said Bharel. “My time as a student at Harvard was transformative. In addition to the courses and analytical frameworks I was exposed to, the fellowship and camaraderie of people working together to solve complex problems expanded my own capacity and ability to imagine new ways of approaching solutions that work for everyone.”

Bharel was appointed by Gov. Charlie Baker in 2015 as Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, serving as the Commonwealth’s chief physician from 2015 to 2021. During that time, she oversaw the Massachusetts public health response to the COVID pandemic as well as several other public health crises, including the opioid epidemic.

As commissioner, Bharel oversaw a public health workforce of nearly 3,000 and an expansive department covering a wide portfolio of health-related issues, including lead poisoning, health equity, and injury prevention. Bharel was a leader in the creation of the Public Health Data Warehouse in 2017, as part of the newly created Office of Population Health. Under her leadership, Massachusetts ranked nationally among the healthiest states in the nation.

Bharel also served as a senior adviser to the mayor of Boston in 2021-22 and was appointed by Mayor Michelle Wu to lead the city’s response to the humanitarian crisis in the area known as Mass and Cass.

Bharel is a board-certified internist who has practiced general internal medicine for more than 20 years, including at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston Medical Center, neighborhood health centers, the Veterans Administration, and nonprofit organizations. She has served on the faculty of Harvard Medical School, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Prior to becoming commissioner, she was chief medical officer of Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program.

She holds a Master of Public Health degree through the Commonwealth Fund/Harvard University Fellowship in Minority Health Policy. She holds a medical degree from Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, and completed a residency and chief residency in internal medicine at Boston City Hospital/Boston Medical Center.