Danoff Dean of Harvard College Rakesh Khurana April 25 announced that L. Mahadevan and Amala Mahadevan have been appointed as faculty deans of the Mather House. L. “Maha” Mahadevan—a professor of Applied Mathematics, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and Physics—and Amala Mahadevan, a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, will serve as Faculty Deans of Mather House.
“We feel honored to be the next faculty deans of Mather,” the Mahadevans said in a statement. “We look forward to working with and learning from the remarkable students, tutors and staff, and collectively nurture the rich intellectual, social and cultural communities that have thrived under the leadership of faculty deans Christie McDonald and Michael Rosengarten.”
The Mahadevans will assume their posts in the fall, according to a Harvard news release. “Harvard’s House system is one of the unique features of our undergraduate experience,” Khurana said in a statement. “Ensuring its excellence and vitality in the 21st century is critical to our educational mission.
Khurana added that the Mahadevans are “devoted teachers, scholars, and community members, and are committed to ensuring that each Harvard House feels like a home where students can bring together their academic, social, and personal passions and pursuits.”
Sean D. Kelly and Cheryl Chen, both faculty members in the Philosophy department, will serve as Faculty Deans of Dunster House. Kelly and Chen will move into Dunster with their two children, ages 12 and 7. The new Faculty Deans will take their posts beginning next academic year.
L. “Maha” Mahadevan, a professor in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, also serves as the SEAS Area Dean for Applied Mathematics. He has previously taught at MIT and Cambridge University in England.
Amala Mahadevan is an oceanographer at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, a leading marine science research center. She also is on the faculty of the institute’s Joint Program in Oceanography with MIT.
