Photo by Susan Young

Photo by Russ Campbell

Photo by Susan Young

Photo by Russ Campbell

With Harvard navigating an array of pressures, Jana Kierstead, Executive Director of the MBA and Doctoral Programs and External Relations, spoke with Dean Srikant Datar about how HBS is responding to new challenges while maintaining its focus on strategic priorities.

Jana Kierstead: We have heard a lot in the news lately about funding pauses and freezes, a potential endowment tax, and perhaps even a challenge to Harvard’s non-profit status—all of which affect the University’s financial position. How are these actions being felt at HBS?

Srikant Datar: We’re experiencing the same overall pressures as the University, but in different ways. The cuts to funding have a smaller impact at HBS than they do at other Harvard schools, for example, given that the majority of the faculty’s research at the School is internally funded. We are fortunate in this respect. Similarly, while endowment revenue is an important component of our economic model, we are not as reliant on it for our operating budget as a number of other schools may be. Collectively, though, these actions have meaningful implications for the School. Even small declines, cumulatively, add up. And our concerns are magnified when we see a recession on the horizon. Past experience has shown that downturns generally tend to affect everything from Executive Education enrollments to Harvard Business Publishing revenues. In times of uncertainty, as we’ve seen this spring, organizations—both firms and educational institutions—are themselves looking to economize, and tend to pause their spending.

The University has already implemented a faculty and staff hiring pause and all schools have announced salary freezes. We’ve had to look carefully at additional ways to cut our expenses and generate new revenue for FY26 and FY27. We want to protect our core activities of teaching and research and pursue innovation in arenas like the MBA curriculum and artificial intelligence (AI). But we also are focused on how we can do more with less.

JK: Last week, the government said it would end Harvard’s ability to enroll foreign students, beginning in Fall 2025. While this issue is determined in the courts, how are you adapting your thinking about the coming year as a result?

SD: International students make up 35% of enrollments in the MBA Program and 40% in the Doctoral Programs. The experiences and perspectives of these students are vital to our classrooms; their voices enrich case discussions and their insights contribute to a deeper understanding of global business practices.

Should foreign students not be allowed to enroll, we will need to draw on the creativity of our community—as we did during the pandemic—to reimagine an MBA Program that both embraces and overcomes a geographically dispersed class. The hybrid capabilities we developed in 2021 will serve as the foundation to our efforts, and we’ll explore how we might leverage our regional research centers, global alumni network, immersive field courses, and other resources like HBS Online both to offer in-person learning experiences and to build community.

Similarly, in the Doctoral Programs (and in conjunction with the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences), we’ll evaluate how best to accommodate students at different phases of their studies.

It’s been incredibly heartening to receive many offers of help, including from colleagues at internationally based business schools that HBS and its faculty helped found many decades ago. I am optimistic that we will find a way forward, as we have during many points in the School’s history.

JK: Harvard’s Presidential Task Forces on Anti-Semitism and Anti-Muslim and Anti-Arab Bias released their reports earlier this month. What was your reaction? How will HBS implement the task forces’ recommendations?

SD: The reports were difficult to read, recounting how members of the University community experienced the campus climate as unwelcoming or described feeling misrepresented and silenced; how policies and procedures failed to provide needed guidance or address conduct that ran counter to community values; and how vibrant debate and open speech were not always the norm in classrooms and on campus. I admire President Garber’s honesty in acknowledging that Harvard can do better, and calling for “significant and durable change.”

I also appreciated his highlighting the significant steps he has taken over the last year. These include an update to the University Statement on Rights and Responsibilities that clarifies time, place, and manner limitations on protests and dissent, as well as changes to disciplinary procedures to ensure that these processes are fair, consistent, and effective at Harvard. Additionally, the University has updated its campus space use policies. And the introduction of Institutional Voice guidelines, limiting official statements on public matters, has been widely welcomed as appropriate and timely.

The Presidential Task Force reports echo many of the recommendations of the HBS groups I shared with our community in January: training; promoting respectful dialogue and encouraging diverse viewpoints; revising policies; and enhancing reporting. Here at HBS, Senior Associate Dean for Community and Culture Kristin Mugford (MBA 1993) has been leading our implementation efforts, working for a number of months now with colleagues in the MBA Program and many other parts of the School. Moving forward, we will look for opportunities to coordinate our work with that of the broader Harvard community.

Across the University, I think our aspirations are both constant and consistent: to strengthen our culture, deepen understanding, enhance our pedagogy, and enable every member of our community to fully benefit from their experience. This work requires ongoing commitment and focus. We must ensure that we create an environment where learning occurs at the deepest level—preparing students with the orientation, capability, and motivation to make a difference in a complex and contentious world.

JK: From the moment you became Dean, you’ve stressed the importance of looking ahead and ensuring the School is well-positioned for the future. What excites you most about what is happening on campus these days?

SD: For me, everything always comes back to our mission of educating leaders who make a difference in the world. As I have said before, business is a powerful force for good in society. As one example: a recent Pitchbook survey found that between 2014 and 2024, nearly 1,900 HBS alumni founded companies funded by venture capitalists—a number far greater than at any other business school. These companies create jobs, hire employees, and develop valuable products and services. Moreover, our alumni lead organizations of all sizes. In fact, HBS has educated more CEOs of Fortune 500 companies than any other business school. We have had a significant impact on the national and global economy.

This is why I am so determined to continue to strengthen Harvard Business School for the future. The work we do is vital.

In the MBA Program, we are constantly evaluating the curriculum to ensure that we are teaching the knowledge, judgment, and skills that will position our graduates to lead in a rapidly changing world. HBS students must know how to both use and leverage emerging tools like artificial intelligence and digital technologies. This is why we have launched a new required course called Data Science and Artificial Intelligence for Leaders, or DSAIL. Soon we hope to make some of this AI course content available to alumni, too.

Later this year, we’ll introduce Foundry, a platform for founders creating ventures with growth potential and offering entrepreneurship programs, resources, and ecosystems. Co-developed by Professor Tom Eisenmann and Professor of Management Practice Shikhar Ghosh with Senior Director Elise Bates (MBA 2000), Foundry will allow our students and alumni to access a wide range of curated, on-demand content—covering everything from assessing product-market fit to practicing an investor pitch in real time with avatars of Tom and some of his colleagues—using generative AI.

And we are focused on ensuring that our classrooms truly foster the promise of the case method, a tremendous gift from our predecessors that enables deep learning by embracing the varied perspectives and experiences through open dialogue.

JK: How can alumni support the School during this complex moment?

SD: I would repeat the advice President Garber offered in his letter of May 19th: Advocate for Harvard and higher education. Stay informed about the issues and what’s at stake. Donate to the University, whether by giving to the HBS Fund (which supports strategic initiatives such as MBA innovation and new course development, lifelong learning for alumni, and new AI tools to enhance student learning) or the new Presidential Priorities Fund (that provides flexible support to meet emerging needs).

At HBS, alumni support has always been crucial, and it will remain so as we face new challenges—whether that’s helping our graduating students as they face a difficult job market, assisting our faculty as they pursue case writing and research projects, or partnering on and participating in courses, independent projects, and Short Intensive Programs (SIPs). It’s a great time to become even more engaged with the work and activities of the School.

JK: Any closing thoughts?

SD: Each year of my deanship has brought new challenges. The coming years likely will bring more. I want to repeat what I said earlier: neither Harvard nor Harvard Business School is perfect or gets everything right. But after this week’s Commencement activities, which included recognizing our Baker Scholars, celebrating our Dean’s Award winner, and honoring the 2025 Alumni Achievement Award recipients, I was reminded of why it is so important to keep trying... to ensure that our School always strives to fulfill its highest potential. What we do here matters. I saw it in the faces of our graduates—some of them the first in their family to graduate from college—who are eager to tackle society’s problems, and to lead and serve the organizations they join. Their excitement is what fuels my optimism, even if the road ahead is difficult. I also know that, together, we can ensure the mission and values of the School are carried forward.

Post a Comment