phd in finance harvard

Students enrolled in the Master of Liberal Arts program in Finance will gain a solid foundation in the principles of finance, becoming well informed of topics critical to financial planning, implementation, measurement, and investment.

The Mignone Center for Career Success will be closed on Monday, September 2 in observance of Labor Day.

• Crimson Careers
• For Employers
• Harvard College
• Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
• Harvard Extension School
• Premed / Pre-Health
• Families & Supporters
• Faculty & Staff
• Prospective Students
• First Generation / Low Income
• International Students
• Students of Color
• Students with Disabilities
• Undocumented Students
• Varsity Athletes
• Explore Interests & Make Career Decisions
• Create a Resume/CV or Cover Letter
• Expand Your Network
• Engage with Employers
• Search for a Job
• Find an Internship
• January Experiences (College)
• Find & Apply for Summer Opportunities Funding
• Prepare for an Interview
• Negotiate an Offer
• Apply to Graduate or Professional School
• Access Resources
• AI for Professional Development and Exploration
• Arts & Entertainment
• Business & Entrepreneurship
• Climate, Sustainability, Environment, Energy
• Government, Int’l Relations, Education, Law, Nonprofits
• Life Sciences & Health
• Technology & Engineering
• Still Exploring
• Talk to an Advisor

Bank for International Settlements

Phd fellowship programme (monetary & economic department).

• Share This: Share PhD Fellowship Programme (Monetary & Economic Department) on Facebook Share PhD Fellowship Programme (Monetary & Economic Department) on LinkedIn Share PhD Fellowship Programme (Monetary & Economic Department) on X

2025 PhD Fellowship Programme (Monetary and Economic Department)

At the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), our mission is to support central banks’ pursuit of monetary and financial stability through international cooperation, and to act as a bank for central banks.

The PhD Fellowship Programme at the BIS gives you the opportunity to contribute to BIS economic research and analysis, working with expert economists and research analysts in a unique environment in Basel, Switzerland.

BIS research draws strength from our unique position as a platform for international cooperation to promote monetary and financial stability, leveraging our close contacts with the central banking and financial supervisory community. This programme helps you acquire practical experience in supporting central banks and other financial authorities through policy-oriented research.

Given our modest size we can easily collaborate and exchange ideas with colleagues in different units and managers at different levels. You will enjoy exposure to ideas and projects beyond your immediate speciality and will play a valuable part in supporting the central bank community.

This role is based in Basel, Switzerland however, thanks to our status as an international organization, we can hire globally and welcome applications from candidates of all nationalities and located anywhere in the world. Relocation support is available for the successful candidate.

Duration:  up to three months

Start date:  between April 2025-December 2025

By joining the PhD Fellowship Programme, you will:

• contribute to BIS research projects on topical issues in economics and finance, including in particular financial intermediation and regulation, financial innovation and digitisation, monetary policy, fiscal policy, international finance and international spill overs.
• work in a highly stimulating, international environment providing exposure to a wide range of topics.
• be embedded in the Monetary and Economic Department with regular interaction with staff and first-hand insight into BIS research and policy work.
• have access to BIS research activities, including to seminar series and to visiting research fellows from leading academic institutions.
• benefit from working in a unique, international environment that offers flexible, hybrid working options with a blend of onsite work from our central office location in Basel and home office.

Qualifications, skills and experience:

• Enrolment in a PhD programme (preferably in 3rd-4th year) in economics, finance or related fields.
• Expertise in conducting research in the fields of financial, macro and monetary economics.
• Ability to apply tools (such as Python, MATLAB, Stata, EViews,  etc.) typically used in economic analysis to a range of topics.
• Familiarity with major financial/monetary databases would be beneficial

The Bank for International Settlements is a diverse organization with colleagues from over 60 countries. By joining us in the international city of Basel, you will work in a unique, highly rewarding, and international work environment. We truly value diversity and inclusion and want to reflect the world we serve. We want the best people to work for us in an inclusive environment so welcome applications from all qualified candidates. At the BIS, we value equality and diversity in all its forms and one way we support diversity and inclusion is through our staff-run networks. You can discover more about diversity at the BIS  here.

What we offer

We want your time at BIS to be a rewarding and career-enriching experience. We offer a contract for a period up to three months, a competitive net of tax allowance, health insurance coverage, travel and relocation assistance as well as accommodation during your stay. We also offer an agile and flexible working environment with hybrid working opportunities including home office and working from abroad days. Please note that a one year cooldown period applies after completing your assignment with the BIS, this means you would not be able to rejoin the BIS for a year after completing your assignment.

Application process:  To apply please submit your CV (in English). Please also provide your answer to the application form questions.

Application deadline:  6 October 2024

We strive to ensure that individuals are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the application or interview process, and to perform essential job functions. Should you wish to request accommodation, support in completing this application or participating in the application process, then please reach out to the recruitment team at  [email protected] .

Funding & Scholarship: Graduate Programs

Financial support for ph.d. students, all students admitted into our ph.d. program receive full financial support., this support includes tuition, fees, $1,004 in transportation and dental subsidies (as of ay24-25), and a cost-of-living stipend ($3655 per month in ay23-24 and $4083 per month before taxes in ay24-25)..

Support is independent of need provided a student remains in good academic standing and is making satisfactory progress towards his/her Ph.D. degree. Students are expected to complete their Ph.D. requirements in four to six years. Financial support takes several forms: fellowships, teaching fellowships, and research assistantships. Ordinarily, first-year Ph.D. students are supported with full fellowships so that they can devote their time to coursework.

For the classes entering in Fall 2024 and beyond : SEAS PhD students are expected to complete two sections of teaching in SEAS in their second year or spread across their second and third years. Both sections may be completed concurrently in a single course. Their research assistantship will be adjusted accordingly during the semester(s) in which they are teaching fellow (TF). The academic requirement for the PhD degree is one section of teaching in SEAS. The student and their research advisor may arrange to replace the second section of teaching with a research assistantship. Beyond the first year, when students are in a better position to teach and assist in research, support is ordinarily provided through research assistantships, or a combination of a teaching fellowship and a research assistantship. For more detailed information, please visit the following pages: GSAS Tuition and Fees  G SAS Financial Support for PhD Students

External financial support for Ph.D. students

Applicants and current students are encouraged and expected to apply for all non-Harvard scholarships for which they are eligible, especially those offered by the  National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program  and  National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (NDSEG) . 

Each year, many SEAS students secure fellowships from external agencies.  Should an incoming student be awarded and accept any fellowship external to Harvard, it is the expectation that the student will utilize these funds in the first year of study in place of Harvard funding.   In advanced (G2+) years in the graduate program, students with external fellowships are advised to have a discussion with their financial aid officers from Harvard Griffin GSAS and SEAS about how to best utilize the remaining years of funding based on their activities and academic requirements.

To ensure equitable treatment of all students, the coordination of external award benefits with a student’s existing funding package is determined by the Harvard Griffin GSAS financial aid officer in consultation with SEAS.

Currently, PhD students with external support are eligible for a SEAS-sponsored academic incentive.  PhD students who bring in open, competitive external fellowships that are equal to 50% or more of total their support (tuition/fees + stipend) will receive a supplemental award of $3,000 in the first year of the external fellowship.  PhD students who bring in open external competitive external fellowships that are not 50% or more of their total support and are at least $10,000 (tuition/fees + stipend or salary) will receive a supplemental award of $1,000.  The full $3,000 bonus may also be awarded in certain cases of multi-year fellowships depending on the total amount of support provided.This policy is subject to review and change.

Financial support for terminal masters students (M.E. & S.M.)

While financial aid is not available for master’s students in our M.E. and S.M. programs, there are a variety of funding opportunities available. Prospective students are encouraged to apply for independent grants and fellowships to fund their studies.  Information about tuition and fees can be found here . Students in our Computational Science & Engineering or Data Science programs-should visit this page and also may contact the  GSAS Financial Aid Office  to learn more.

Students in the  MS/MBA:Engineering Sciences program  are eligible to apply for need-based  HBS Fellowships  and student loans in both years of the program.

• Utility Menu

44d3fa3df9f06a3117ed3d2ad6c71ecc

• Administration

The department's faculty include Nobel Prize and Clark medal winners, former members of the Council of Economic Advisors, leaders in international policy-making, and leading researchers in their fields in economics who are among the most widely cited in the world. 

Find Faculty by Economic Field

Behavioral Economics

Industrial Organization

Political economy.

Economic Development

International Economics

Public economics, econometrics, labor economics, financial economics, macroeconomics, economic history.

• Faculty A to L
• Faculty M to Z
• Affiliated Faculty
• In Memoriam

Pol Antràs’ teaching and research fields are international economics and applied theory. Some of his work is overviewed in his recent book Global Production: Firms, Contracts, and Trade Structure , published by Princeton University Press. He is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), where he served as Director of the International Trade and Organization (ITO) Working Group. Among other distinctions, he was awarded an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship in 2007 and the Fundación Banco Herrero Prize in 2009, and he was elected Fellow of the Econometric Society in 2015. As of 2015, he is Editor of the Quarterly Journal of Economics .

Faculty Assistant: Mack Carroll ... Read more about Pol Antràs

Robert Barro

Robert J. Barro is a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. Recent research involves rare macroeconomic disasters, corporate tax reform, religion & economy, empirical determinants of economic growth, and economic effects of public debt and budget deficits. Recent books include Religion and Economy (forthcoming with Rachel McCleary), Economic Growth (2nd edition, written with Xavier Sala-i-Martin), Nothing Is Sacred: Economic Ideas for the New Millennium, Determinants of Economic Growth, and Getting It Right: Markets and Choices in a Free Society. ... Read more about Robert Barro

Adrien Bilal

Adrien Bilal is a macroeconomist with interests in labor and spatial economics. Adrien received his PhD in Economics from Princeton University. He is...

Emily Breza

Emily Breza joined the Economics Department as an Assistant Professor in January 2017.  She received her PhD in Economics from MIT and her BA from...

John Y. Campbell

John Campbell has published over 80 articles on various aspects of finance and macroeconomics, including fixed-income securities, equity valuation, and portfolio choice. His books include The Econometrics of Financial Markets (with Andrew Lo and Craig MacKinlay, Princeton University Press 1997), Strategic Asset Allocation: Portfolio Choice for Long-Term Investors (with Luis Viceira, Oxford University Press 2002), and The Squam Lake Report: Fixing the Financial System (with the Squam Lake Group of financial economists, Princeton University Press 2010).

Faculty Assistant: Mack Carroll

Raj Chetty is the William A. Ackman Professor of Public Economics at Harvard University. He is also the Director of Opportunity Insights, which uses “big...

Gabriel Chodorow-Reich

Gabriel Chodorow-Reich's research focuses on macroeconomics, finance, and labor economics. Gabriel received his Ph.D. from the University of...

David M. Cutler

David Cutler has developed an impressive record of achievement in both academia and the public sector. He served as Assistant Professor of Economics from 1991 to 1995, was named John L. Loeb Associate Professor of Social Sciences in 1995, and received tenure in 1997. He is currently the Otto Eckstein Professor of Applied Economics in the Department of Economics and holds secondary appointments at the Kennedy School of Government and the School of Public Health. Professor Cutler was associate dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for Social Sciences from 2003-2008 and was named Harvard College Professor from 2014-2019.

Faculty Assistant: Emily Sall

Melissa Dell

Melissa Dell is a former Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows and a Global Scholar in the Institutions, Organizations and Growth program at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Melissa's research focuses on the interplay between the state, non-state actors, and economic development. In particular, she has examined the relationship between government crackdowns and drug violence in Mexico, as well as the persistence of poverty in Mexico and Peru.... Read more about Melissa Dell

Karen Dynan

Karen Dynan served as Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy and Chief Economist at the U.S. Department of the Treasury from 2014 to 2017, where she led analysis of economic conditions and development of policies to address the nation’s economic challenges.

From 2009 to 2013, Dynan was vice president and co-director of the Economic Studies program at the Brookings Institution. Before that, she was on the staff of the Federal Reserve Board, leading work in macroeconomic forecasting, household finances, and the Fed’s response to the financial crisis.... Read more about Karen Dynan

Benjamin Enke

Benjamin Enke is an Assistant Professor at Harvard's Department of Economics. Ben received his Ph.D. in Economics from Bonn in 2016. His research focuses...

Christopher Foote

Christopher L. Foote, a senior economist and policy advisor in the research department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, currently serves as advisor to the Center for Behavioral Economics and Decision making.... Read more about Christopher Foote

Richard B. Freeman

Richard B. Freeman is currently serving as Faculty co-Director of the  Labor and Worklife Program  at the Harvard Law School. He directs the  National Bureau of Economic Research /Sloan Science Engineering Workforce Projects, and is Senior Research Fellow in Labour Markets at the London School of Economics'  Centre for Economic Performance . Freeman received the Mincer Lifetime Achievement Prize from the Society of Labor Economics in 2006. In 2007 he was awarded the IZA Prize in Labor Economics. In 2011 he was appointed Frances Perkins Fellow of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.... Read more about Richard B. Freeman

Benjamin Friedman

Benjamin M. Friedman's latest book is The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth , published in 2005 by Alfred A. Knopf. His best known previous book is Day of Reckoning: The Consequences of American Economic Policy Under Reagan and Afte r, which received the George S. Eccles Prize, awarded annually by Columbia University for excellence in writing about economics. He has also written extensively on economic policy, and in particular on the role of the financial markets in shaping how monetary and fiscal policies affect overall economic activity.... Read more about Benjamin Friedman

Roland Fryer

Roland G. Fryer, Jr. is a Professor of Economics at Harvard University, a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a former junior fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows.  Fryer has published papers on topics such as the racial achievement gap, the causes and consequences of distinctively black names, affirmative action, the impact of the crack cocaine epidemic, historically black colleges and universities, and acting white.... Read more about Roland Fryer

Jason Furman

Jason Furman is the Aetna Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy jointly at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) and the Department of Economics...

Xavier Gabaix

Xavier Gabaix is Pershing Square Professor of Economics and Finance at Harvard’s economics department. He received his undergraduate degree in mathematics from the Ecole Normale Supérieure (Paris) and obtained his PhD in economics from Harvard University.... Read more about Xavier Gabaix

Edward Glaeser

Edward Glaeser is the Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University, where he has taught since 1992. He regularly teaches microeconomics theory, and occasionally urban and public economics. He has served as Director of the Taubman Center for State and Local Government, and Director of the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston. He has published dozens of papers on cities economic growth, law, and economics. In particular, his work has focused on the determinants of city growth and the role of cities as centers of idea transmission. He received his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1992.

Faculty Assistant: Jamie Murray

Claudia Goldin

Claudia Goldin is the Henry Lee Professor Economics and the Lee and Ezpeleta Professor of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University.  She...

Yannai A. Gonczarowski

Yannai A. Gonczarowski is an Assistant Professor of Economics and of Computer Science at Harvard University—the first faculty member at Harvard to have...

Jerry Green

Jerry Green is the John Leverett Professor in the University and the David A. Wells Professor of Political Economy in the Department of Economics.... Read more about Jerry Green

Oliver Hart

Oliver Hart is currently the Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor at Harvard University, where he has...

Elhanan Helpman

Elhanan Helpman's contributions include studies of the balance of payments, exchange rate regimes, stabilization programs and foreign debt, international trade, economic growth and political economy. He is a cofounder of the "new trade theory'' and the "new growth theory,'' which emphasize the roles of economies of scale and imperfect competition. His current research is reflected in his latest books, Understanding Global Trade and Globalization and Inequality .

Faculty Assisstant: Ursula Ferraro

Myrto Kalouptsidi

Myrto Kalouptsidi is a Professor of Economics at Harvard and the Radcliffe Institute. She received her PhD in economics from Yale University in 2011 and...

Lawrence Katz

Lawrence F. Katz's research focuses on issues in labor economics and the economics of social problems. He is the author (with Claudia Goldin) of  The Race between Education and Technology  (Harvard University Press, 2008), a history of U.S. economic inequality and the roles of technological change and the pace of educational advance in affecting the wage structure. Katz also has been studying the impacts of neighborhood poverty on low-income families as the principal investigator of the long-term evaluation of the Moving to Opportunity program, a randomized housing mobility experiment.... Read more about Lawrence Katz

Gabriel Kreindler

Gabriel Kreindler studies issues in urban transportation in developing countries. His current projects focus on understanding the impact of traffic...

David Laibson

David Laibson is a member of the National Bureau of Economic Research, where he is Research Associate in the Asset Pricing, Economic Fluctuations, and Aging Working Groups.  Laibsonʼs research focuses on the topic of behavioral economics, and he is a co-leader of the Harvard University Foundations of Human Behavior Initiative. ... Read more about David Laibson

Robin S. Lee is a Professor of Economics at Harvard University and Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He received his A.B. and A.M. in Economics and his Ph.D. in Business Economics from Harvard, and previously served on the faculty at New York University Stern School of Business.... Read more about Robin Lee

Prior to joining the Economics Department Faculty, Shengwu Li was a Junior Fellow of the Society of Fellows.

Staff Support:...

N. Gregory Mankiw

N. Gregory Mankiw teaches the introductory economics course at Harvard and is the author of several best-selling textbooks. His research includes work on price adjustment, consumer behavior, financial markets, monetary and fiscal policy, and economic growth.

Faculty Assistant: Marina Bisogno ... Read more about N. Gregory Mankiw

Stephen Marglin

Stephen A. Marglin's latest book, The Dismal Science: How Thinking Like an Economist Undermines Community , focuses on the foundational assumptions of economics and how these assumptions make community invisible to economists. His published papers and books range over the foundations of cost-benefit analysis, the workings of the labor-surplus economy, the organization of production, the relationship between the growth of income and its distribution, and the process of macroeconomic adjustment.... Read more about Stephen Marglin

Eric S. Maskin

Eric Maskin received the 2007 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics (with L. Hurwicz and R. Myerson) for laying the foundations of mechanism design theory. He also has made contributions to game theory, contract theory, social choice theory, political economy, and other areas of economics.... Read more about Eric S. Maskin

Marc Melitz

Marc Melitz' s broad research interests are in international trade and investment.  More specifically, he studies producer-level responses to globalization and their implications for aggregate trade and investment patterns. He is a fellow of the Econometric Society and is affiliated with the  National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the  Centre for Economic Policy Research  (CEPR),  CESifo , and the  Kiel Institute for the World Economy .  He is foreign editor for the  Review of Economic Studies  and associate editor  for the  American Economic Journal: Microeconomics .  His research has been funded by the Sloan Foundation and by the NSF. ... Read more about Marc Melitz

Jeffrey Miron

Jeffrey Miron’s field of expertise is the economics of libertarianism. He has advocated for many libertarian policies, including legalizing all...

Ariel Pakes

Professor Pakes' research has been in industrial organization (I.O.), the economics of technological change and in econometric theory. He teaches courses in industrial organization and in econometrics. Recent empirical work includes an analysis of the impact of the break up of AT&T on productivity in the telecommunication equipment industry, an analysis of the impact of voluntary export restrictions on the profits and consumer welfare generated by the sales of new cars, and an analysis of the impact of the entry and exit of goods on the price index for personal computers.... Read more about Ariel Pakes

Amanda Pallais

Amanda Pallais a Professor of Economics at Harvard University.  Formerly, she was the Paul Sack Associate Professor of Political Economy and Social Studies. Her research focuses on the barriers preventing workers from achieving efficient employment outcomes and students from optimally investing in human capital. Her research has explored the extent to which the cost of developing a reputation acts as a barrier preventing workers from entering the labor market. It has shown how manager bias can depress the job performance of minorities, how small changes in college application fees can dramatically affect the college application choices of low-SES students, and how financial aid can improve college outcomes for low-income students. Pallais received her B.A. in Economics and Mathematics from the University of Virginia in 2006 and her Ph.D. in Economics from MIT in 2011.

Faculty Assistant: Eric Unverzagt

Matthew Rabin

Matthew Rabin is the Pershing Square Professor of Behavioral Economics in the Harvard Economics Department and Harvard Business School.... Read more about Matthew Rabin

Kenneth Rogoff

Kenneth Rogoff writes on international macroeconomics and financial crises. His publications include Foundations of International Macroeconomics (with Maurice Obstfeld) and This Time is Different:  Eight Centuries of Financial Folly (with Carmen Reinhart).  From 2001-2003, he served as chief economist at the International Monetary Fund.... Read more about Kenneth Rogoff

Amartya Sen

Amartya Sen is Thomas W. Lamont University Professor, and Professor of Economics and Philosophy, at Harvard University and was until 2004 the Master of Trinity College, Cambridge.  He has served as President of Econometric Society, Indian Economic Association, American Economic Association, and International Economic Association.  His research has ranged over a number of fields in economics, philosophy, decision theory and social choice theory.  His books have been translated into over thirty languages.  Sen has received the Bharat Ratna (India), the National Humanities Medal (USA), Commandeur de la Légion d’Honneur (France), the Ordem do Mérito Científico (Brazil), the Aztec Eagle (Mexico), and the Nobel Prize in economics.... Read more about Amartya Sen

Jesse Shapiro

Neil Shephard

Neil Shephard is the Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of Science, in the Department of Economics and Department of Statistics.  His broad research interests are in econometrics, finance and statistics, with a particular focus on financial econometrics.   He has made particular advances in developing simulation based inference methods for online learning and has contributed methods to allow the mainstream use of high frequency financial data in economics.  He joined the Harvard faculty in 2013, holding a professorship joint between the Economics and Statistics Departments.  Professor Shephard is a fellow of the Econometric Society and the British Academy.  He is an associated editor of Econometrica .  Professor Shephard was a faculty member at the London School of Economics from 1988-1993 and Oxford University from 1991 to 2013.   

Staff Support: Emily Palmer

Andrei Shleifer

Andrei Shleifer has worked in the areas of comparative corporate governance, law and finance, behavioral finance, as well as institutional economics. He has published six books, including The Grabbing Hand (with Robert Vishny), and Inefficient Markets: An Introduction to Behavioral Finance , as well as over a hundred articles. In 1999, Shleifer won the John Bates Clark medal of the American Economic Association.... Read more about Andrei Shleifer

Stefanie Stantcheva

Stefanie Stantcheva is a Professor at Harvard University. She is a former Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows. She received her Ph.D. in Economics from MIT in 2014. Stefanie's research focuses on the optimal design of the tax system, taking into account important labor market features, more complex social preferences, and long-term effects such as human capital acquisition and productive investments by firms.

Staff Support: Ann Richards

Jeremy Stein

Jeremy Stein’s research has covered such topics as behavioral finance and stock-market efficiency, corporate investment and financing decisions, risk management, capital allocation inside firms, banking, financial regulation, and monetary policy. He  was previously a co-editor of the Quarterly Journal of Economics and the Journal of Economic Perspectives , and has served on the editorial boards of several other economics and finance journals. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.  In 2008, he was president of the American Finance Association. He has served in the Obama Administration as a senior advisor to the Treasury Secretary and on the staff of the National Economic Council.... Read more about Jeremy Stein

James Stock

James H. Stock is also a member of the faculty at Harvard Kennedy School. His research areas are macroeconomic forecasting, monetary policy, and econometric methods for the analysis of economic time series data. ... Read more about James Stock

Ludwig Straub

Ludwig Straub is an assistant professor of economics. He is a former post-doctoral fellow in economics at Harvard. His research focuses on macroeconomics...

Tomasz Strzalecki

Tomasz Strzalecki's research interests are in decision theory and economic theory. He has focused on ambiguity aversion, temporal preferences, and bounded rationality.... Read more about Tomasz Strzalecki

Lawrence Summers

Lawrence H. Summers is the Charles W. Eliot University Professor and President Emeritus of Harvard University. During the past two decades, he has served in a series of senior policy positions in Washington, D.C., including the 71st Secretary of the Treasury for President Clinton, Director of the National Economic Council for President Obama and Vice President of Development Economics and Chief Economist of the World Bank.... Read more about Lawrence Summers

Elie Tamer’s research areas are in econometrics and empirical industrial organization. His work is focused on developing methods for inference on economic models under minimal assumptions. He is former co-editor of Econometrica and is a fellow of the Econometric Society.... Read more about Elie Tamer

Davide Viviano

Davide Viviano is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at Harvard University. His primary research interests are in econometrics....

David Y. Yang is a Professor in the Department of Economics at Harvard University and Director of the Center for History and Economics at Harvard. David...

Marcella Alsan

Marcella Alsan is a Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Alsan received a BA from Harvard University, a master’s in public health from...

Samuel Hanson

Scott Kominers

... Read more about Scott Kominers

Adi Sunderam

Cass R. Sunstein

Cass R. Sunstein is currently the Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard. From 2009 to 2012, he was Administrator of the White House Office of...

Thomas Baranga

Thomas Baranga studies international finance, macroeconomics and trade, generally from an empirical point of view. His work has frequently focused on...

Maxim Boycko

Maxim Boycko is a Visiting Lecturer in Economics at Harvard University and a Senior Fellow at the Watson Institute for International and Public...

Gregory Bruich

Gregory Bruich received his Ph.D. from the Department of Economics at Harvard University. His research is in public economics. He was voted a “Favorite...

Anne Le Brun

Anne is a labor economist with a particular interest in the economics of immigration. Anne teaches a sophomore tutorial on the economics of immigration...

Judd Cramer

Kiran Gajwani

Kiran Gajwani is a development economist whose research focuses on decentralized governance, organizations of the poor, and the long-run dynamics of...

Andres Maggi

Andres Maggie is an Associate in the Department of Economics at Harvard University. He received my Ph.D. in Economics from Princeton University. His...

David Martin

Rachel McCleary

McCleary has a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Chicago, a Master of Theological Studies from Emory University and a B.A. from Indiana...

Dwight Perkins

Dwight H. Perkins' previous positions at Harvard include Associate Director of the East Asian (now Fairbank) Research Center, 1973-1977; chairman of the Department of Economics, 1977-1980; Director of the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID), the University’s former multi-disciplinary institute for research, teaching, and technical assistance on development policy,1980-1995; and Director of the Harvard University Asia Center, 2002-2005. He has authored or edited twelve books and over one hundred articles on economic history and economic development, with special references to the economies of east and southeast Asia. ... Read more about Dwight Perkins

Alvin Roth is also the Craig and Susan McCaw Professor of Economics at Stanford University. He works in the areas of game theory, experimental economics and market design. He shared the 2012 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics. ... Read more about Alvin Roth

Jeffrey Williamson

Jeffrey Gale Williamson served as Chairman of the Economics Department 1997-2000 and as the department's Director of Undergraduate Studies 2001-2002 and...

Alberto Alesina

Alberto Alesina was a leader in the field of Political Economics and published extensively in all major academic journals in economics. He ...

Richard Caves

Gary Chamberlain

Gary Chamberlain passed away in February of 2020.  He taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and became a Professor of Economics at Harvard in 1987, and the Louis Berkman Professor of Economics in 2002. His research topics included panel data, returns to schooling, factor structure in large asset markets, semiparametric efficiency, the structure of wages, and applications of decision theory in econometrics. 

He was a Fellow of the Econometric Society and was a Member of its Council from 1988 to 1993, and he gave the Fisher-Schultz Lecture in 2001. He was a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a Member of the National Academy of Sciences.... Read more about Gary Chamberlain

Richard Cooper

Richard N. Cooper passed away in December of 2020. He was a member of the Trilateral Commission, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Executive Panel of the US Chief of Naval Operations, and the Brookings Panel on Economic Activity. He has served on several occasions in the US Government, as chairman of the National Intelligence Council (1995-97), Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs (1977-81), Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Monetary Affairs (1965-66), and senior staff economist at the Council of Economic Advisers (1961-63). His most recent books include  Boom, Crisis, and Adjustment  (co-author), Macroeconomic Management in Korea, 1970-1990  (co-author),  Environment and Resource Policies for the World Economy,  and  What the Future Holds  (co-author).... Read more about Richard Cooper

Emmanuel Farhi

Emmanuel Farhi's research focused on macroeconomics, finance, international economics, and public finance. His papers have been published in leading journals including the American Economic Review , the Journal of Political Econom y, the Quarterly Journal of Economic s, the Review of Economic Studies and the Journal of Financial Economics . He was a member of the French Economic Analysis Council to the French Prime minister, a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, the Center for Economic Policy Research, the International Growth Centre, as well as a fellow of the Toulouse School of Economics. He was also an associate editor of the American Economic Review. ... Read more about Emmanuel Farhi

Martin Feldstein

Martin Feldstein, George F. Baker Professor of Economics, passed away on June 11, 2019. He was a faculty member in the Department of Economics for 52 years, 1967 to 2019.  Marty's teaching and research focused on issues of taxation, social insurance and fiscal policy.  He also wrote widely on other aspects of U.S. and foreign economic policy and on the economics of national security.  He published more than 300 research papers. He received the Clark medal of the American Economic Association and later served as President of the Association. He served as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers for President Ronald Reagan.  He was president and CEO of the National Bureau of Economic Research from 1977 to 2008.  He taught the introductory economics course for 18 years and continues to teach graduate and undergraduate courses.

Dale Jorgenson

Jorgenson has conducted groundbreaking research on information technology and economic growth, energy and the environment, tax policy and investment...

János Kornai

János Kornai was Allie S. Freed Professor of Economics Emeritus at Harvard and Professor Emeritus at Corvinus University of Budapest. He served at...

David Landes

Wassily leontief, james l medoff.

Henry Rosovsky

Henry Rosovsky is the author of many articles and books, including Capital Formation in Japan (1961), Quantitative Japanese Economic History (1961),...

Thomas C Schelling

Martin Weitzman

Martin L. Weitzman was a Research Professor of Economics at Harvard University until his passing on August 27, 2019. Previously he was on the...

Graduate Students

Research Appointments

• Academics /

Corporate Finance Graduate Certificate

Gain the knowledge and tools needed for corporate financial analysis and decision making.

Online and On Campus Options

Number of Required Courses

Next Start Term: Spring 2025

Registration opens November 4, 2024

What You'll Learn

Designed for professionals currently working in the financial services industry or who are responsible for making financial decisions, they certificates will help you gain knowledge in focused topic areas, such as:

• Capital markets and investments
• Mergers and acquisitions
• International corporate governance
• Investment theory
• Real estate

The certificate will also help you develop an understanding of the theory and practice of corporate finance with an understanding of discounted cash flow, valuation, risk and return, capital asset pricing model, corporate capital structure, capital budgeting, mergers and acquisitions, and investment and financing decisions.

Our Community at a Glance

Students in this program receive a rigorous education in topics including organizational finance, economic theory, mergers and acquisitions, analyzing financial statements, and more.

Download: Corporate Finance Graduate Certificate Fact Sheet

Average Age

Working Full Time

Students Outside the U.S.

Average Time to Complete

Certificate Courses

The professional graduate certificate in Corporate Finance requires four courses:

• Corporate Finance course (choose one course from select group)
• Valuation course (choose one course from select group)
• Electives (choose any two courses from select group)

If you do not have background knowledge in finance, we recommend that you take an introductory course, such as MGMT E-2000 Principles of Finance, or consider the  Principles of Finance  certificate.

You can  find courses  by course group and term — fall, spring, or summer — in the  certificate course search  within DCE Course Search & Registration platform.

Earning Your Certificate

Most of our certificates can be completed online and no formal application process is required to pursue a certificate.

To meet the requirements for the certificate, you must:

• Complete the  four certificate courses for graduate credit .
• Earn at least a  B grade  in each course.
• Complete the courses within three years .

Learn more about  pursuing a certificate  and the process of  requesting your certificate .

Stack Your Certificate Into a Degree

Stackable credential pathways allow you to earn multiple credentials by completing courses that meet overlapping requirements. In the short term, you can earn your corporate finance certificate. Once completed, those four courses may count toward either a master’s degree in finance or a master’s degree in management .

This stackable pathway offers an efficient, cost-effective way to earn short-term credentials to help fill immediate skill gaps and acquire specialized knowledge while building a foundation for long-term success that showcases your expertise in the field.

Learn how to plan a stackable credential pathway .

Once you start HES, you enter a large family that spans the globe.  Get to know your teammates as early into your HES journey as possible. It will enhance your experience exponentially.

Affordability is core to our mission. When compared to our continuing education peers, it’s a fraction of the cost.

Learning & Connection

Deep learning springs from human connection. That’s why we work so hard to bring people together — whether in a live virtual classroom or an in-person seminar on campus.

Our approach to online learning fosters interaction without sacrificing flexibility. Each week, you’ll engage with your instructor, participate in peer discussions, and receive one-on-one support from teaching staff—all from your home or office.

Corporate Finance FAQs

What is corporate finance.

Corporate finance covers financial activities of corporations such as capital budgeting, capital structure, and working capital management. It involves long-term financial decisions as well as day-to-day financial management of a corporation with the goal of maximizing the value of the corporation to its shareholders.

Is corporate finance a good career path?

Corporate finance is a broad field that encompasses many roles within a company related to financial data and planning, management, and decision making. Demand for these skills is steady and spans a variety of industries. Overall, working in corporate finance is a stable career choice. Companies will always need professionals to manage their finances and capital. Advancement opportunities exist as you gain more work experience and professional development.

Is a corporate finance certificate worth it?

Earning a graduate certificate in corporate finance is an efficient way to gain advanced skills and knowledge in corporate finance over a short period of time. In four courses, you can supplement your existing skill set with focused coursework on topics highly relevant to today’s business world. A certificate also demonstrates to employers an ongoing commitment to learning and a mastery of concepts that can enhance job performance.

Is the job market for corporate finance competitive?

Corporate finance is a popular career choice, and there are generally more candidates than openings. In addition to a relevant degree in finance, accounting, economics, or a related field, credentials like a graduate certificate in corporate finance can help you stand out from other candidates by demonstrating that you are committed to staying up to date with the latest trends and skills in your field. This plus relevant work experience and a strong professional network can increase your competitiveness in the corporate finance job market.

Harvard Division of Continuing Education

The Division of Continuing Education (DCE) at Harvard University is dedicated to bringing rigorous academics and innovative teaching capabilities to those seeking to improve their lives through education. We make Harvard education accessible to lifelong learners from high school to retirement.

• Business Administration
• Introduction

Harvard Griffin GSAS strives to provide students with timely, accurate, and clear information. If you need help understanding a specific policy, please contact the office that administers that policy.

• Application for Degree
• Credit for Completed Graduate Work
• Ad Hoc Degree Programs
• Dissertations
• English Language Proficiency
• African and African American Studies
• American Studies
• Anthropology
• Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Planning
• Molecular and Cellular Biology
• Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
• Biological Sciences in Public Health
• Biostatistics
• Business Economics
• Byzantine Studies
• Celtic Languages and Literatures
• Chemical Biology
• Chemical Physics
• Chemistry and Chemical Biology
• Comparative Literature
• Division of Medical Sciences
• Earth and Planetary Sciences
• East Asian Languages and Civilizations
• Engineering and Applied Sciences
• Film and Visual Studies
• Germanic Languages and Literatures
• Health Policy
• History of Art and Architecture
• History of Science
• Human Evolutionary Biology
• Inner Asian and Altaic Studies
• Linguistics
• Mathematics
• Middle Eastern Studies
• Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
• Organizational Behavior
• Political Economy and Government
• Population Health Sciences
• Public Policy
• Quantum Science and Engineering
• Religion, The Study of
• Romance Languages and Literatures
• Slavic Languages and Literatures
• Social Policy
• South Asian Studies
• Systems, Synthetic, and Quantitative Biology
• Secondary Fields
• Year of Graduate Study (G-Year)
• Master's Degrees
• Grade and Examination Requirements
• Conduct and Safety
• Financial Aid
• Non-Resident Students
• Registration
• Residence Halls
• Student Groups

Questions about these requirements? See the contact info at the bottom of the page. 

Program of Study

The PhD degree in business administration is a jointly offered program between the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (Harvard Griffin GSAS) and Harvard Business School (HBS). The program consists of four fields: accounting and management, marketing (quantitative and consumer behavior), strategy, and technology and operations management.

Each candidate’s program of study will be developed in consultation with the faculty chair of the program and the Doctoral Programs Office at HBS. The normal program is outlined below.

Regular guidance through contact with faculty advisors is an essential component of doctoral education. Students should maintain close contact with their official advisor(s) throughout their enrollment in the program. Students are encouraged to develop informal advising relationships with several faculty members in addition to their official advisor. 

First-year advisors provide assistance during the initial stages of the program but do not necessarily advise the student throughout their studies. Students are matched with initial advisors based on their research interests. As students familiarize themselves with program faculty during coursework, research work, seminars/workshops, and other activities, they may change their official advisor(s) as their academic and research interests develop. During the early years of study, students should become acquainted with many program faculty members to identify advisors who share their research interests.

Coursework consists of a minimum of 13 doctoral-level term courses and 2 MBA term courses. Each term, students will consult with their faculty advisors to receive approval of their course selections. Areas of study may require specific courses in each of the four categories listed below:

• Discipline Courses (two courses)
• Research Methods Courses (four courses)
• Field Courses (five courses)
• Breadth Courses (two courses)
• MBA Courses (two courses)

Research Seminar and Presentation

Students are required to present in a research seminar on a yearly basis (starting in the second year). Students must also attend a weekly research seminar, ordinarily the unit (department) seminar in their area of study.

Field Exam and Paper

Students are required to pass a field exam in their area of study by the end of their second year and submit a publishable quality research paper by the beginning of their third year. Both the exam and paper are evaluated by a committee of three or more faculty members.

Teaching 

Students are required to complete a teaching engagement of one full academic term that includes in front-of-class teaching experience and teaching preparation time. 

Dissertation Proposal 

By the end of their third year, all students are required to obtain approval of their dissertation proposal by a three-member committee. In addition, students must have a confirmed dissertation chair.

Dissertation

Students are required to write a dissertation, which typically takes the form of three publishable papers, to the satisfaction of their dissertation committee. The dissertation defense is oral.

The defense must demonstrate effective analysis and evaluation of relevant data contributing significantly to the understanding and resolution of management problems. A level of professional scholarly competence should be evident during the collection, analysis and reporting of data, and in the presentation of findings.

The construction of the dissertation should be clear, concise, and orderly. It is necessary to include sufficient evidence to support the reasoning and conclusions. The length of the thesis will vary, depending on the nature of the research topic and the evidence required.

Since the principal purpose of the dissertation is to demonstrate a candidate's ability to make good use of the research methods appropriate to their problem, and to develop and handle evidence satisfactorily, the thesis should contain a statement (a) of the research procedures employed and (b) concerning the nature, reliability, and suitability of the evidence gathered.

See additional information for  Current Students (login required).

Contact Info 

Business Administration Website

Harvard Business School Doctoral Programs Office [email protected] 617-495-6101

Explore Events

• Harvard Business School →
• Faculty & Research →
• Academic Units
• Accounting & Management
• Business, Government & the International Economy
• Entrepreneurial Management
• General Management
• Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
• Organizational Behavior
• Technology & Operations Management

Seminars & Conferences

• Awards & Honors
• Doctoral Students

• August 2024

Lucky Ones Coffee: Employing People with Disabilities

Discerene Group: Long-Term Public-Markets Investing

This case discusses active investing based on fundamental valuations and price distortions created by market events, and whether contractual terms between investment managers and their investors can help align incentives between long-term investors and active managers. The case also develops an exercise valuation of a company to assess the fair value of its equity for investing purposes. In early 2024, Soo Chuen Tan, president and founder of Discerene Group, a hedge fund based on Stamford, CT, was considering whether to continue or exit the position the fund held in SLB (formerly known as Schlumberger), a global oilfield-services company focused on providing technological services to oil-and-gas producers. The fund had first invested in SLB in at the onset of the global COVID Pandemic in March 2020, after SLB’s stock price had fallen 70%. This was the only remaining investment of the many that the fund had undertaken in 2020 as Discerene identified securities whose prices had fallen well below their estimate fair value. The unique structures of Discerene’s funds made it possible for the firm to hold the stock for four years and could hold it longer if it so decided. Compared to other investment firms, Discerene placed more stringent redemption restrictions on its limited partners (“LPs”) to allow it to pursue its long-term investment strategy. Additionally, Discerene only called capital from its LPs when it found opportunities to deploy capital, so it did not need to sell one investment in order to fund another. Otherwise, contractual capital commitments made by LPs stayed unfunded, and (unlike typical private-equity terms) no fees were charged on such commitments.

This case discusses active investing based on fundamental valuations and price distortions created by market events, and whether contractual terms between investment managers and their investors can help align incentives between long-term investors and active managers. The case also develops an exercise valuation of a company to assess the fair...

• Working Paper

Political Polarization and Finance

We review an empirical literature that studies how political polarization affects financial decisions. We first discuss the degree of partisan segregation in finance and corporate America, the mechanisms through which partisanship may influence financial decisions, and available data sources to infer individuals’ partisan leanings. We then describe and discuss the empirical evidence. Our review suggests an economically large and often growing partisan gap in the financial decisions of households, corporate executives, and financial intermediaries. Partisan alignment between individuals explains team and financial relationship formation, with initial evidence suggesting that high levels of partisan homogeneity may be associated with economic costs. We conclude by proposing several promising directions for future research.

We review an empirical literature that studies how political polarization affects financial decisions. We first discuss the degree of partisan segregation in finance and corporate America, the mechanisms through which partisanship may influence financial decisions, and available data sources to infer individuals’ partisan leanings. We then...

About the Unit

Our strategy is to assemble and nurture a faculty whose interests and skills complement each other, and who work well together:

a) to produce a broad range of finance-related research that is published in top-tier scientific and practitioner journals, and that addresses issues of present and future importance to managers (including regulators and policy makers);

b) to develop highly-relevant and intellectually rigorous MBA and executive education courses; and

c) to mentor future academics through the Business Economics doctoral program.

Our applied focus and access to business organizations are major advantages which are reinforced by our students and our case-based approach. We have a faculty with broad expertise, and we have resources, field contacts, and institutional support, all of which we can leverage to do richer work and be more productive than we could at other institutions.

Recent Publications

• August 2024 |
• Faculty Research
• Supplement |

EoTV: Module 5 - Cultural Factors and the Startup Ecosystem

• Module Note |

EoTV: Module 4 - Legal and Regulatory Environment

Eotv: module 3 - sources of financing.

• Working Paper |

EoTV: Module 2 - Availability and Access to Talent

In the news.

• 26 Aug 2024
• Financial Times

Warsaw Stock Market Aims for Revival After ‘Lost’ Years

• 25 Aug 2024

Fed's Rate Hikes Proved Crucial in Strengthening Market Confidence, Study Reveals

• 24 Aug 2024

Fed’s Actions Spoke Louder Than Words in Inflation Fight, Research Shows

Hbs working knowledge.

• 22 Aug 2024

Reading the Financial Crisis Warning Signs: Credit Markets and the 'Red-Zone'

• 16 Aug 2024

Election 2024: What's at Stake for Business and the Workplace?

• 05 Aug 2024

Watching for the Next Economic Downturn? Follow Corporate Debt

Harvard business publishing, how to make finance work, hbr guide to buying a small business: think big, buy small, own your own company.

There are no upcoming events.

Faculty Positions

Contact information.

Finance Unit Harvard Business School Baker Library | Bloomberg Center Soldiers Field Boston, MA 02163 [email protected]

Featured Topics

Featured series.

A series of random questions answered by Harvard experts.

Explore the Gazette

Read the latest.

Why row from Boston to London? Because it’s there.

Next up for House renewal: Eliot

FAS receives gift to bolster arts, humanities, and strengthen financial aid

Thomas J. Hollister is Harvard’s vice president for finance and chief financial officer.

Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

A difficult financial year met with preparation, sacrifice, innovation, and teamwork

Nate Herpich

Harvard Correspondent

Belt-tightening helped Harvard offset loss of income, limit job impacts while maintaining the mission

More than a year after the decision by colleges and universities nationwide to move to remote learning following the onset of COVID-19, the pandemic continues to create financial challenges for institutions of higher education, even as many plan to bring more students back to campus in the fall.

Since the beginning of the outbreak, the Gazette has periodically checked in with  Thomas J. Hollister , Harvard’s vice president for finance and chief financial officer, for updates on how the pandemic has affected the University’s finances. The Gazette recently asked Hollister to reflect upon the realities of the financial losses of the past year; how the community has come together in support of Harvard’s mission of teaching and research despite unprecedented challenges; and the outlook for the future, including new opportunities that lie ahead.

Thomas J. Hollister

GAZETTE:   Any opening thoughts on the past year?

HOLLISTER:   This pandemic period is much more than about finances. It’s been profoundly difficult for everyone, everywhere — losses of loved ones, economic dislocation, jobs lost in many industries, inequities laid bare and exacerbated, and, essential to our mission at Harvard, academics and research disrupted.

We have been guided by the framework for making financial decisions shared with the Harvard community back in April a year ago by President [Larry] Bacow, Provost [Alan M.] Garber, and Executive Vice President [Katie] Lapp: First, prioritize the health and safety of students, faculty and staff; second, do everything we can to maintain the excellence of Harvard’s educational and research mission; third, recognize that the strength of Harvard is its people. Thanks to these principles, and to so many community members who have been willing to sacrifice, innovate, and be flexible, our campus has remained safe, and the University has carried on successfully with its teaching and research mission, with minimal job-related impact.

GAZETTE:   What do the financial results look like for this unprecedented time in Harvard’s history?

HOLLISTER:   As expected, revenues this year are substantially reduced and will be down for the second year in a row. At the undergraduate level, for example, tuition revenue is lower due to fewer undergraduate students and higher financial aid needs, as well as lower room and board revenue due to remote learning. Across the University, we have, of course, seen less graduate student rental-housing income, [declines from] canceled executive education programs, far less dining and cafe revenues, reduced parking income, and reduced activity fees. We will not know how much revenue has been lost until the end of the fiscal year. There are still uncertainties that complicate Harvard’s financial outlook, and forecasting in a pandemic has been in some ways “best guessing.”

Beyond the numbers, it’s also important to underscore the very real sense of loss that many people within our community have felt this year. As I mentioned, there has been a lot of sacrifice across the University — very limited in-person teaching, research projects interrupted, Ph.D. careers upended, capital projects delayed or stopped, missed reunions and graduation ceremonies, in-person sports, dance, drama … all have been affected. It has been a difficult year for many.

“It comes down to the fact that the entire Harvard community has been terrific at controlling spending.”

GAZETTE:   Despite these very real losses, you said that Harvard has been able to very successfully limit job-related impact. How has the University been able to do this?

HOLLISTER:   It comes down to the fact that the entire Harvard community has been terrific at controlling spending. Our expenses for the first half of the fiscal year were lower than a year ago and less than we had forecast for the first half of the year. Being able to control costs is highly consequential, as it has enabled us to avoid any widespread furloughs or job layoffs. The Chronicle of Higher Education recently reported that 650,000 jobs have been eliminated in higher education in the last 12 months — this is one out of every eight jobs in higher education. Many private colleges and universities have had to resort to layoffs and also reduce retirement and pension contributions. We have not had to take those steps because everyone has pulled together and watched after every penny.

On an overall operating basis, the reduction in expenses is helping to offset the losses of revenue. As a result, hopefully our Schools and units will not have to dip too deeply into their reserves to fund losses from operations during the year, and hopefully the University can avoid a consolidated operating loss for the year. This would put us in a better position coming out of this difficult period.

GAZETTE:   You mentioned expense savings. Can you give us examples of some of these kinds of sacrifices that community members have made?

HOLLISTER:   Examples include lower spending for supplies, equipment, travel, food, consultants, energy, maintenance, capital projects, and lower compensation costs as a result of the salary and hiring freezes.

GAZETTE:   But you have also talked previously in this space about significant spending increases during the pandemic.

HOLLISTER:   Yes, that’s right. We have had to increase spending in specific areas such as testing and tracing costs, campus reconfigurations for safety reasons, and increased financial aid, particularly at the undergraduate level. I have not seen a recent estimate, but altogether this will be tens of millions of dollars for the fiscal year. The overall effort in expense savings, however, has offset these pandemic-related increases, and as I mentioned, is also offsetting the decreases in revenues.

We cannot declare victory yet. We should continue to be cautious in spending. I should mention that preparation by many people has helped us to weather this storm: strengthening financial disciplines since the recession of ’08/’09, building up liquidity at the University and reserves at the Schools and units, planning ahead with the “Recession Playbook,” downside-scenario financial planning, and close coordination with Harvard Management Company (HMC) have put us in a good position. The guidance of the Corporation Committee on Finance has also been instrumental every step of the way. All of these efforts helped position Harvard to better execute on the financial principles announced last spring.

“… hopefully our Schools and units will not have to dip too deeply into their reserves to fund losses from operations during the year, and hopefully the University can avoid a consolidated operating loss for the year.”

GAZETTE:   Speaking of HMC, what’s the outlook for the endowment?

HOLLISTER:   The stock market has been doing well, and hopefully it will stay that way. A good stock market helps endowment results. Based on the fiscal-year-to-date performance of the endowment, the Corporation decided this week to increase the distribution for the coming fiscal year from a 1 percent increase to a 2.5 percent increase. This will provide more funding for all endowed activities. The increase is consistent with Harvard’s intention to distribute as much of the endowment’s earnings into operations as it responsibly can every year in order to fund academics and research. It is our largest single source of revenue across the University.

GAZETTE:   Anything else you’d like to add?

HOLLISTER:   The Harvard community has exhibited extraordinary resilience this past year. All of the Schools and units adapted swiftly to the pandemic environment, continued on with the mission, and, in the face of it all, found new ways to advance pedagogy and research. Our researchers have been remarkably dedicated to finding ways to continue making a difference in the world. I imagine that many of them worked in shifts at all hours of the night and day with their personal protective equipment to progress with their research. How magnificent is it that both the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines trace their roots to laboratories at Harvard Medical School and Harvard-affiliated hospitals?

Remote learning has taken enormous strides across all of the Schools with improving techniques and experience and many new pedagogical approaches, including the new online master’s program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, hybrid classrooms at Harvard Business School, and guest lecturers from across the globe participating in virtually every classroom.

We have also discovered new ways of doing work. For example, my colleagues in central finance pivoted immediately to remote work with great success every day for well over a year. These are people in accounts payable, treasury, payroll, procurement, financial reporting, sponsored programs, and student financial services. It has been a privilege to be a part of it. We now, like the rest of the campus, are trying to figure out how best to do our work in the future with flexibility for our colleagues and efficiencies for the University.

I have been so impressed by the way the Harvard community has pulled together, and looked out for each other so that we can make it through this difficult period. As we look forward, we have a unique opportunity to create a brighter future by harnessing the new ideas and approaches that have been demonstrated throughout the pandemic. Let’s capitalize on these recent pedagogical advances, the new approaches to work, the new ways of managing resources efficiently, and strategically focus on increasing selective investments in things we care about — academics, research, diversity, inclusion, and belonging, and continue to advance our shared mission, together.

Interview was lightly edited for clarity and length.

Share this article

You might like.

Spaulding Rehabilitation physiatrist, team taking new route, aim to set records 

Building refresh aims to boost accessibility, preserve historic character

Business leader Joseph Y. Bae ’94 and novelist Janice Y. K. Lee ’94 expand upon three decades of supporting academic excellence, opportunity at Harvard

When should Harvard speak out?

Institutional Voice Working Group provides a roadmap in new report

Had a bad experience meditating? You're not alone.

Altered states of consciousness through yoga, mindfulness more common than thought and mostly beneficial, study finds — though clinicians ill-equipped to help those who struggle

Finding right mix on campus speech policies

Legal, political scholars discuss balancing personal safety, constitutional rights, academic freedom amid roiling protests, cultural shifts

Finance Courses

• Social Sciences

Leading with Finance

Build an intuitive understanding of financial principles to better understand the market in which your organization operates, create and access value, and communicate with key stakeholders in this course from Harvard Business School (HBS) Online.

Finance for Senior Executives

Strengthen your contribution with a deeper understanding of financial analysis, profit planning, capital markets, compensation, and more.

International Real Estate Strategies and Deal Negotiation

Learn the ins and outs of the real estate cycle – and to how to take advantage of expansions, recessions, and inflationary periods.

Financial Analysis and Valuation for Lawyers

Taught by Harvard Law School faculty, Financial Analysis and Valuation for Lawyers is a Harvard Online course designed to help you navigate your organization or client’s financial goals while increasing profitability and minimizing risks.

Sustainable Investing

Sustainable Investing, a course from Harvard Business School (HBS) Online, equips people with the insights, frameworks, and skills to evaluate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors and measure and manage impact investments.

Succeeding as a Strategic CFO

Become a strategic chief financial officer by developing advanced skills in finance, strategy, leadership, and communication.

This three-course program from Harvard Business School (HBS) Online will teach you the fundamental skills to confidently contribute to business decisions and decision-making.

Financial Accounting

Discover what’s behind the numbers in financial statements and unlock critical insights into business performance and potential to drive strategic decision making in this course from Harvard Business School (HBS) Online.

Family Office Wealth Management—Virtual

Discover new approaches for managing and preserving family wealth and explore unique investment opportunities for high-net-worth families.

Global Business

Turn the uncertainty of today's global economy into an opportunity to manage risk, and create and capture value for your organization, in this course from Harvard Business School (HBS) Online.

Investment Decisions and Behavioral Finance (On-Campus)

In two intensive days, you'll learn the central principles surrounding the psychology of decision making under conditions of risk and uncertainty.

Step beyond the disruption and gain the knowledge and skills to tackle financial services innovation

Alternative Investments

Alternative Investments, a Harvard Business School (HBS) Online course, will help you develop your ability to evaluate potential investment opportunities and maximize the value of portfolios.

Health Care Economics

Taught by Harvard Medical School faculty, Health Care Economics, a Harvard Online course, provides insights into the economic forces are shaping US health care.

Join our list to learn more