The thought of being House Masters first struck Incoming Mather House Masters Christie A. McDonald and Michael D. Rosengarten about a decade ago, they said.

Some on campus may joke that Mather House is “the box that Dunster came in,” but this jab does not stop incoming Mather House Masters Christie A. McDonald and Michael D. Rosengarten from appreciating the building’s concrete beauty.

“We actually really like the architecture in Mather,” McDonald says. “Inside, the spaces have incredible windows and light, and... there are these spaces designed for people to get together in small groups that are absolutely terrific.”

The Three Columns Gallery—the art showcase near the Mather dining hall and across from the Junior Common Room—earns particular admiration from McDonald, a French language and literature and comparative literature professor who studies literature’s relationship with art and the social sciences.

With her husband Rosengarten—McGill University associate dean of the Center for Continuing Health Professional Education—by her side, McDonald says she hopes to infuse the House with her love for art.

This goal—and the broader aim of becoming House Masters—is not a capricious whim of the couple, they say.

Rather, it is a long-standing desire, and perhaps even a logical next step in both of their careers, which have allowed them to traverse various academic and administrative roles across national borders.

A HARVARD VETERAN

The House Mastership is one of the few roles McDonald has yet to hold at Harvard.

Her vast administrative and managerial experience ranges from chairing the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures to participating in myriad faculty committees.

“Everybody always complains about administration, but in fact, it’s actually great to be working with your colleagues,” McDonald says.

Her extensive involvement in faculty life has introduced the couple to other Masters, including Kirkland House Masters and fellow French professors Tom C. and Verena A. Conley, Leverett Masters Howard M. Georgi ’68 and Ann B. Georgi, and Lowell Masters Diana L. Eck and Dorothy A. Austin.

McDonald works with Eck and Austin as a member of the Lowell House Senior Common Room, and she says she exercises with Verena Conley—though not as often as they should, McDonald is quick to add.

These friendships have given the pair a glimpse into a House Master’s daily life, which McDonald says will serve as a valuable model when she and her husband begin their first year as Mather Masters.

FRANCOPHILES FOREVER

A native of Montreal, Rosengarten earned his Bachelor of Engineering in 1966 at McGill University—a top-tier university in Quebec known in jest as the “Harvard of the North.”