Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Jeremy R. Knowles reviews the progress made and outlines the challenges ahead in his Annual Letter to the Faculty.

The Letter recalls the goals of the current capital campaign that were set in 1992 -- including increasing the number of professors; major building renovations to support scholarship and instruction; the enrichment of the undergraduate curriculum; improved financial aid for undergraduates and graduate students; investment in infrastructure for science teaching and research; and significant new funds for information technology.

Seven years on, Knowles writes, progress has been made toward meeting most of those goals. Of those that remain, Knowles says that increasing the number of professors is among the most critical; funds have been raised for only half of the 40 new positions that were part of the FAS Campaign. In addition, he identifies "a host of questions" that must be addressed as the FAS plans for the long-term use of its limited land, for classrooms, meeting rooms, research space, student housing, faculty offices, and places for Harvard's collections.

"Looking ahead," Knowles writes, "I do not doubt that there will be plenty of hurdles, and plenty of worries to go with them. But let me admit how delighted I am to have been so wrong, a year ago. For in last year's letter to you, I said: 'We shall not be able simultaneously to lower tuition increases, to make the most competitive offers to graduate students, to reduce section size, to improve faculty salaries, and to add to the ranks of the faculty.' Since I wrote that sentence, we have advanced on those fronts, and more besides. May the future remain as bright."

Annual Letter to the Faculty