Hyman also supported the ongoing renovation of the Fogg Art Museum and the revamping of the American Repertory Theater, which has in recent years increased its collaboration with undergraduates.

Faust praised Hyman, the University's longest serving provost in recent memory, in a statement Wednesday.

"He has spurred fresh thinking and important initiatives in areas ranging from the sciences to the humanities, from the museums to the libraries," she said. "In all of these areas and more, he has approached his role with intelligence, passion, and wit, and with a devotion to the highest academic standards."

Hyman has occupied administrative positions for the past decade and a half, first as director of the National Institute of Mental Health and then as provost beginning in 2001, and said that he looks forward to returning to teaching.

In a letter accompanying the announcement that he would step down, Hyman thanked his colleagues and undergraduates, who he said "have forgiven the sometimes slow pace with which I return their papers."

—Staff writer Elias J. Groll can be reached at egroll@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Zoe A. Y. Weinberg can be reached at zoe.weinberg@college.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer William N. White can be reached at wwhite@fas.harvard.edu.