Hyman’s time at NIMH may have prepared him for the kind of consensus-building inherent in a position like that of the provost, some former colleagues say.

“It gave him experience in diplomacy, tolerance for turf and over the course of the time he was at NIH, he grew into someone who is able to recognize and respect diverse perspectives,” says Leshner. “That’s why I think he’d be a good provost.”

RENAISSANCE MAN

Before starting at HMS, Hyman graduated from Yale in 1974 with a degree in philosophy and the humanities. He then attended the University of Cambridge as a Mellon scholar in the history of science.

“Steve is atypical of neuroscientists,” says Hans C. Breiter, assistant professor at HMS and a former student of Hyman’s. “He has a strong interest in economics and philosophy. He has a real genuine intellectual curiosity that is very broad.”

Hyman says he tries to “cling to bits of academic life,” teaching his freshman seminar on addiction every year and lecturing in a neurobiology course at HMS a few times a semester.

As a lecturer at MGH and McLean Hospital in the 80s, Hyman was selected by students as Best Teacher four times.

“The medical students generally have very positive comments about his lectures,” says Edwin J. Furshpan, research professor of neurobiology at HMS, who adds that Hyman was not afraid to swear occasionally in lecture. “He was strongly admired at the medical school.”

Student in his freshmen seminar—with whom he met for three hours every week last semester—also laud Hyman’s teaching.

“He was very open,” says Nadia A. Mohamedi ‘08, a student in the seminar. “He would correct us if we were wrong, but he always got even more excited if someone disagreed with him. He’d be like, ‘Oh yeah? Why do you feel that way?’”

—Staff writer May Habib can be reached at habib@fas.harvard.edu.