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Our Faculty

Experts who love to engage with our adult learners.

We Are Invested in Your Journey

At Harvard Extension School, we bring together expert faculty who love to teach and motivated adult learners who love to learn.

Through hundreds of courses in over 50 different subject areas, our instructors teach their scholarly and professional passions. The combination of expertise and enthusiasm inspires our learners to reimagine their own academic and professional lives.

top of Cabot House compass

Our faculty are educators, practitioners, and scholars. Although their research and professional experience differ, faculty share a passion for preparing and educating HES students to tackle the challenges of a rapidly changing global society.

  • 70%

    Faculty with doctoral degrees

  • 500

    Instructors

  • 800

    Courses

  • 50

    Subject areas

Gloria Ayee

It is wonderful to interact with working professionals from around the world who are seeking an enriching learning experience and are interested in being part of a rigorous and intellectually vibrant academic community.

Gloria Ayee, PhD

Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University

We Bring Our Best So You Can Be Your Best

Our instructors come from diverse personal, professional, and academic backgrounds. And many enjoy national and international recognition in their fields. 

You will learn from Harvard University faculty as well as renowned faculty from local, national, and international universities.

In addition, you’ll work with top industry professionals from the fields of business, IT, and sustainability, plus museum directors, journalists, and biotechnologists. 

Nancy Coleman and Suzanne Spreadbury stand with other Harvard faculty in graduation regalia behind a red banner that reads Harvard University Extension School.

The teaching and learning results are tremendous, but you don’t have to take our word for it. Our students evaluate us at the end of every term on a scale from zero to five.

  • 4.6/5

    Average instructor rating across all courses

  • 4.7/5

    Instructors communicate clear presentations

  • 4.6/5

    Instructors provide effective discussions and activities

  • 4.7/5

    Instructors are available for content questions

Bryan Delaney

In my time at Harvard, I’ve worked with students from a vast range of personal, cultural and professional backgrounds and over time I’ve learned as much from them as I hope they have from me.

Bryan Delaney

Playwright and Screenwriter

We Teach Across Harvard

In addition to excellent teaching, HES instructors have rich scholarly and public lives.

They are influencers and thought leaders. Their research has been published in top journals and by the most prestigious academic presses.

They have been asked to speak at national and international conferences as well as national and international news outlets. Some have participated in TEDx talks.

In addition to Harvard Extension School, our instructors teach at:

  • Harvard Business School
  • Harvard Divinity School
  • Harvard Graduate School of Design
  • Harvard Graduate School of Education
  • Harvard Kennedy School
  • Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School
  • Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
Elisabeth McKetta giving Ted Talk

We Are Industry Leaders

We bring our professional experience and expertise to the classroom. You’ll stay well-informed on current industry trends, metrics, and best practices.

We are CEOs, screenwriters, principal software engineers, chief information security officers, lawyers, and solution architects.

Some of our organizations include Amazon, WCVB-TV, Moody’s Analytics, Deutsche Bank, The Wall Street Journal, S&P Global, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Partners Healthcare, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, The Washington Post, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, American Express, Teradata, and Pfizer, Inc.

Instructor Tom Nichols with students