John F. Manning and Hopi H. Hoekstra announced earlier this year that Diana L. Eck, professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies, Emerita, and Frederic Wertham Research Professor of Law and Psychiatry in Society, will be named interim faculty director of the Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute (the Mittal Institute) beginning July 1.
“I am delighted that Diana Eck has agreed to step into this important role. She is an accomplished scholar whose work will add tremendously to the Mittal Institute,” said Provost John F. Manning. “I am also grateful to Professor Khanna, who has led the institute with such distinction, deepening engagement among Harvard’s faculty and establishing a range of interdisciplinary research projects.”
Hopi Hoekstra, Edgerley Family Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, agreed: “Thanks to Tarun’s leadership, the Mittal Institute has developed as a powerful connector of people and ideas, both on campus and around the world. Diana is an excellent choice to continue this important work, contributing to groundbreaking research and discussion of South Asia.”
Eck is an accomplished scholar whose academic work focuses on both India and America. Her work on India focuses on popular religion, especially regarding temples and places of pilgrimage. Her work on the United States explores the challenges of religious pluralism in our multireligious society. Since 1991, she has headed the Pluralism Project, which explores immigration’s effect on religion in America and the growth of Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain, and Zoroastrian communities across the country. Eck is the recipient of numerous awards for her academic work and is the author of several books on India’s sacred spaces, most famously her seminal work, “Banaras, City of Light.” She served as president of the American Academy of Religion from 2005 to 2006.
Eck will succeed Tarun Khanna, who has served as faculty director of the Mittal Institute since 2009. Under his tenure, it grew to include faculty from the sciences, social sciences, and humanities, transitioning to a University-wide interfaculty initiative in fall 2013; since that time, its intellectual breadth and depth have only continued to grow. He has led its engagement in countries across South Asia, overseeing the establishment of an anchor office in New Delhi, with on-the-ground presence in Lahore and Kathmandu. In addition to his work at the Mittal Institute, Khanna is the Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor at the Harvard Business School, where he studies entrepreneurship as a means to social and economic development.
“I am thrilled that Diana has been appointed the next director of the Mittal Institute,” said Khanna. “She has made essential contributions to scholarship on the religion and culture of India, and she has a deep and nuanced understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing South Asia today.”
“I look forward to leading the Mittal Institute at a time of explosive economic and social growth across South Asia,” said Eck. “To be engaged in the core mission of developing Harvard’s intellectual engagement with the entire region and to work with executive director Hitesh Hathi, the whole Mittal Institute team, as well as with our partners in South Asia, toward bringing knowledge to bear on solving real-world problems is just a tremendously exciting opportunity.”
The Mittal Institute connects Harvard and South Asia. With over 2 billion people facing shared challenges and opportunities, South Asia offers unique opportunities for interdisciplinary research, capacity building, and informing policy across a wide range of fields. The institute works with faculty members, students, and in-region institutions and experts to advance and deepen the understanding of critical issues shaping South Asia and its global impact. For more information, visit the Mittal Institute’s website.
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