For the last eight years, Laura Ferguson has worked to show people the human side of fair Harvard.

As the editor of the Harvard Gazette, Ferguson has written countless profiles of Harvard students and faculty and innumerable articles about what goes on inside the University.

"I've tried to personalize an institution by writing about the people," says Ferguson, who is leaving Harvard this week to accept the position of managing editor at the Tufts University alumni magazine.

"People have a very romantic image about Harvard, about it being very historic," she says. "But too many people see Harvard the institution and not the people."

That commitment to telling the stories of the people who live and work at Harvard served as Ferguson's guiding principle as she introduced dramatic improvements to the official University newspaper.

Under her supervision, Gazette improvements include the introduction of desktop publishing, the addition of a full-time calendar editor, a new, more reader-friendly design and a shift from publishing on Friday to Thursday, allowing for more timely arrival.

"We doubled the size of the Gazette and really made it a more substantial publication," she says. "The Gazette has always been Harvard's paper of record, but we have made it more of a community newspaper. We have tried to make the people who work here feel as if they are part of an exciting community, and to reflect the best part of that community to the outside."

Ferguson, a 1977 graduate of Mount Holyoke College, came to Harvard in 1985 as a part-time copy editor at the Museum of Comparative Zoology and joined the news office in the spring in 1987 as a science reporter. She was named managing editor that fall.

At Tufts, Ferguson will be the managing editor of a quarterly glossy magazine.

"I'm ready for something different," she says.

Joe Wrinn, acting director of the news office, lauded Ferguson's devotion to the University and to the Gazette.

"For eight years, Laura has earned Harvard's appreciation for her extraordinary dedication to all facets of the University and to the news office," Wrinn said.

"The Gazette we take pride in today is a direct result of her tallent, commitment, care, and boundless hard work," he said. "We all wish her the best in her new endeavor."

Effective July 17, the interim Gazette editor will be John Lenger, a 1986 graduate of the University of Missouri's School of Journalism.

Langer, a veteran of daily and weekly newspapers, joined the news office in September as assistant news editor.