Constance H. Buchanan, associate dean for program development at the Divinity School and founding director of its women's studies in religion program, will become a program officer in religion at the Ford Foundation, based in New York City, effective Sept. 1.

Buchanan will work in the Foundation's education, media, arts, and culture program developing its new initiative on religion as a cultural force in contemporary society and establishing a grantmaking program on religion, values, and cultural pluralism in the United States and abroad.

"Connie's contributions to Harvard University and the Divinity School for the past 20 years have left an enduring legacy of excellence," said Dean Ronald F. Thiemann. "She established an internationally recognized interdisciplinary program that has shaped the study of religion and gender in theological and religious studies as well as in other disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. We will miss her wise counsel and advice, her exceptional leadership, and her unfailing commitment to gender and racial diversity."

The Divinity School's women's studies in religion program appoints five visiting scholars each year whose work advances scholarship on religion, gender, and culture and brings women to the center of analysis in religious studies. Established in 1980, it was preceded for eight years by an innovative dissertation-level program of fellowships in women's studies.

More than 100 scholars have held appointments in the

women's studies in religion program since its inception. Raising $5

million for its endowment is one of the goals of the Divinity

School's current capital campaign.

Over the years Buchanan played an important role in implementing this and other changes to the Divinity School's curriculum and in developing new academic initiatives in religion and public affairs that established collaborations with other graduate and professional schools at Harvard. She also supervised the revitalization of the School's admission and recruitment office and served for five years as an assistant to Harvard President Emeritus Derek Bok.

Buchanan is the author of Choosing to Lead: Women and the Crisis of American Values, published last year by Beacon Press.

An interim director for the Divinity School's women's studies in religion program will be named shortly.