Harry Lewis

Bio

Harry is a Venture Partner with Xfund. He is Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University. He is the author of numerous books and articles on computer science and on higher education. A member of the Harvard faculty since 1974, he created and for decades oversaw much of Harvard’s undergraduate computer science program. Harry has helped launch thousands of Harvard undergraduates, including both Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, into careers in computer science. His book about higher education, Excellence Without a Soul: Does Liberal Education Have a Future? was translated into Chinese (in both Taiwanese and mainland editions) and Korean. He is coauthor, with Hal Abelson and Ken Ledeen, of Blown to Bits: Your Life, Liberty, and Happiness After the Digital Explosion (translated into Russian and Chinese), which explains the origins and public consequences of the explosion of digital information. His most recent book, with Ellen Condliffe Lagemann, is the collection What’s College For? The Public Purpose of Higher Education. The editors contributed the lead essay, Renewing the Civic Mission of American Higher Education. From 1995-2003 Harry served as Dean of Harvard College. In this capacity he oversaw the undergraduate experience, including residential life, career services, public service, academic and personal advising, athletic policy, and intercultural and race relations. In 2015 he served as interim Dean of Harvard’s John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He is a long-time member of the College’s Admissions Committee. Harry is a graduate of the Roxbury Latin School, the oldest school in continuous existence in North America (founded 1645). Harry received his A.B. and Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1968 and 1974 respectively.