The Year in Review
The 2020–21 fiscal year was one of innovation and adaptation. While the pandemic disrupted lives and activities around the world, Harvard Business School sought to not just continue but also adapt and extend its core activities of teaching, research, and disseminating ideas. Faculty and students alike embraced the custom technology that enabled teaching and learning both in the classroom and remotely. They were supported by hundreds of frontline staff who came to campus every day to transform old processes and build and manage new systems. Throughout, the HBS community worked together to overcome the complexities inherent in this hybrid approach.
In February 2021, Harvard Business Publishing announced the
retirement of CEO David Wan (MBA 1981). Wan joined HBP in 2002 and
helped transform the organization into a global leader in improving
the practice of management and its impact in a changing world,
growing revenues from approximately $90 million to $270 million. He
successfully oversaw the publishing company's Higher Education,
Corporate Learning, and
Harvard Business Review groups through digital transformation
and seismic market shifts.
In September 2020, Harvard Business School announced it would honor
James I. Cash, the James E. Robison Professor of Business
Administration, Emeritus, by renaming Glass House. The new Cash
House name was unveiled in a community-wide event attended by
faculty, staff, and students. At the event, then-Dean Nitin Nohria
remarked, “Not only has he transcended many racial barriers in his
own life, Jim Cash also has propelled generations of Black students,
faculty, and staff, as well as scores of business leaders, to
successful and meaningful lives and careers.” Following an extensive
renovation, Cash House will become home to the newly created Office
for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging.
Debra Wallace retired from her role as Executive Director of
Knowledge and Library Services (KLS) at the end of June 2021,
following 15 years of service. Wallace brought innovation to the
stewardship of KLS as an information management hub for academics
and business leaders on campus and around the world. She was widely
respected as a leader among her University peers and in her field.
Among her many accomplishments are the Library's organizational
redesign, the introduction of web-based information products, and
the expansion of the contemporary archival collections.
