Herbert J. Vallier has been named Harvard's first director of strategic staffing, Provost Harvey V. Fineberg has announced.

Vallier, a seasoned university administrator who has worked at Harvard since 1989, assumed his new role on Nov. 17, having previously served as associate director for finance and administration in the University's Police and Security Department.

His new position is intended to strengthen Harvard's capacity to think and act in more systematic, creative ways to ensure both the excellence and the diversity of the University's administrative staff, with a special initial emphasis on the Central Administration.

"I'm delighted that Herb Vallier has agreed to take on this important new challenge," said Fineberg. "We face a shifting landscape in the effort to attract and retain outstanding administrative staff members at Harvard, while we also aim to build a workforce that takes full advantage of the strengths that people of different backgrounds can bring to our enterprise.

"The skills needed to work effectively within universities are constantly evolving; the competition within various labor pools is particularly intense; and the demographics of our own community, and of the larger community, are significantly changing," Fineberg added. "Given all this, it will take a good deal of concerted effort to frame and achieve our staffing priorities in the time ahead, and Herb's talent, resourcefulness, and collegiality will do much to help us move forward."

"I'm very excited about this opportunity to work more closely with colleagues across the University on a set of important issues," said Vallier. "The hope is that we can begin to think in more purposeful and coordinated ways about how we recruit, develop, and retain administrative and professional staff members at Harvard.

"How do we ensure that Harvard is seen as an 'employer of choice' by the many talented and diverse people whose administrative abilities could benefit the University? How do we make sure our existing administrators have the right opportunities to develop their skills and to pursue careers that continue to challenge and engage them? In my experience, we've tended to take a largely ad hoc approach to these questions, and I hope we will be able to answer them better through more focused attention and collaborative planning."

In his new role, Vallier will report to the Provost, and will work in concert with Associate Vice President for Human Resources Polly Price and Assistant to the President James S. Hoyte. He will also work closely with the members of the Central Administration's "confederation" of human resources leaders, as well as administrators and human resources and diversity specialists across the University.

Vallier came to Harvard in 1989 as associate director for employment and recruitment in the Office of Human Resources. In 1990, he became associate director for personnel services in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. He has served as associate director for finance and administration in the University's Police Department since 1994. He is active within the University community working on quality-of-life and minority-representation issues, and currently serves as a member of the Harvard University Black Faculty, Administrators, and Fellows Executive Board.

Before coming to Harvard, Vallier served as a human resources professional in the health-care and oil industries, having been employed by Central Massachusetts Health Care Inc., Health America Corp., and Shell Oil Co. He also spent six years as a drug and alcohol abuse control officer in the United States Air Force. He holds a bachelor's degree in personnel and labor relations from the University of Maryland.