“At some point in the process he suggested that it was something I might think very carefully about,” Kirby said.

Though even top Faculty members only learned yesterday who their new leader would be, the search actually came to a close at the end of last week, according to Kirby.

Summers lauded Kirby’s accomplishments as a professor, scholar and administrator.

“Bill Kirby is a person of extraordinary wisdom, with an outstanding record in a series of leadership roles within the FAS,” Summers said in a statement.

The Dean-Elect

After graduating from Dartmouth, Kirby came to Harvard for graduate study in history, earning his master’s in 1974 and his doctorate in 1981 for a dissertation on Chinese modernization in the first half of the twentieth century.

Kirby—who lives in Lexington with his wife, Yvette Sheahan Kirby, who also earned her doctorate in history from Harvard, and their two children—joined the Faculty ten years ago and was named the Asia Center’s director in 1999.

His scholarly pursuits have focused on the history and economic development of China. He is currently finishing work on A World Transformed, a global history of the twentieth century he is writing with his wife and Krupp Professor of History Charles S. Maier ’60.

Colleagues reached yesterday said they were pleased with Kirby’s selection, citing his extensive administrative experience, his commitment to undergraduate education and his keen wit.

Kirby served as chair of the history department from 1995 to 2000, leading the department through a revision of its curriculum and the appointment of a number of new professors.

Prior to coming to Harvard, Kirby was a professor for 11 years at Washington University in St. Louis and served four years as dean of that school’s division for part-time, evening and summer-school students.

At Harvard Kirby teaches two Core courses, Historical Studies A-13, “China: Traditions and Transformations,” and Historical Studies A-74, “Contemporary China: The People’s Republic and Taiwan in the Modern World.”

In addition to his involvement in the popular Core classes, Kirby has also been an ardent supporter of making study abroad a more integral part of undergraduate education. At a Faculty meeting last fall, he delivered an eloquent speech on the subject that was met with the applause of the Faculty—a rare occurrence at these meetings.

He also co-authored, along with Anthropology Department Chair William L. Fash, the report used by the Faculty to craft a wide array of study abroad changes adopted earlier this month that make it easier for undergraduates to study out of residence.

“I know that he is a great advocate of undergraduate education, and so I think it’s a very exciting selection for the future of the College especially since he was pivotal in the study abroad changes,” Undergraduate Council President Sujean S. Lee ’03 said yesterday.