BERNARD W. HARLESTON

 

Bernard Harleston is the architect of the Doctoral Program in Higher Education at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where he currently serves as Senior Associate at the New England Resource Center for Higher Education. A psychologist, Dr. Harleston’s current research interests focus on the management of diversity and on factors affecting access to higher education by underrepresented groups.

Dr. Harleston taught at Tufts University for 25 years, achieving the rank of Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. From 1981 to 1992, he served as the ninth President of The City College of New York. While at City College, he chaired several mayoral commissions on education and social issues. Dr. Harleston is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Frederick Douglass Medallion, the New York Urban League’s highest award, and the Psychologist of the Year Award of the New York Society of Clinical Psychologists. He holds six honorary degrees.

Dr. Harleston is a former member of the Corporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Visiting Committees to the Department of Psychology and Social Relations at Harvard University and the University of Miami. At present he is a trustee of Lesley College and in May 2007 was appointed as a member of the Governor's Public Education Nominating Council. He has consulted for the Ford Foundation, USAID, and the government of South Africa.

Dr. Harleston earned a B.A. from Howard University and a Ph.D. from the University of Rochester. He was elected to the Tufts Board of Trustees in 2002 and currently chairs the Honorary Degree Committee and the Presidential Review Committee. He is also a member of the Academic Affairs Committee and the Board of Overseers for the Arts and Sciences.

Last updated: August 23, 2007