Dean William A. Graham has announced the appointment of two new administrators at Harvard Divinity School: Elizabeth (Betsy) Sloane will become Associate Dean for Development and Alumni Relations this week, and Laura C. Wood will become head of Andover-Harvard Theological Library on June 15, 2004.
Since March 2002, Sloane has been president of the University of Hawaii Foundation, which coordinates fund-raising for that university system's 10 campuses. Earlier, she was co-founder and president of K@tapult, Inc., a firm in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that provided fund-raising, strategic-planning, and program-design services in the public and private sectors. In that role, for example, she worked with Harvard University to create a successful community-partnership program with Cambridge and Boston. From 1995-98, Sloane was Associate Vice President for Development and Alumni Programs at Trinity College in Hartford.
"Betsy clearly has the kind of varied professional experience that will serve HDS well as we all act with increasing focus to enhance the School's mission, programs of study, and physical plant in the months and years to come," Dean Graham said in announcing the appointment. "In addition, she is very familiar with the distinctive nature of divinity school life, holding an MDiv degree from Yale University."
After graduating from Yale Divinity School, Sloane worked through the 1980s and early 90s, in a variety of capacities, to develop public-private partnerships that would improve inner-city neighborhoods, especially in regard to housing, education, childcare, and the arts.
"At this point in my career," said Sloane, who also holds a BA degree from Wheaton College in Massachusetts, "I am interested in institutions that can bring new perspectives and robust dialogue to key issues which affect all of us. Harvard Divinity School, under the leadership of Dean Graham, is such a place. The Dean, administration, faculty, and students are creating a new vision for the School. I am honored to be a part of the team that will realize this new vision in partnership with our alumni, volunteers, and donors."
Wood comes to Harvard from Emory University, where she has worked at Pitts Theological Library since September 2000, as both periodicals librarian and technical services librarian.
"Through her dual responsibilities at Candler, Laura has clearly developed a balanced approach to library services that includes the enhancement of access to materials through innovative means," Graham said in announcing the appointment. "Her work with technology at Emory, and through the American Theological Library Association, will assist her in leading our library forward in this critical area and will make her an important contributor to Harvard's University Library Council as well."
Before arriving at Emory, Wood was head librarian of the Stockwell Cross Library at the University of Michigan, where she received a master's degree in information. She also has a master's degree in religion from Yale Divinity School and a BA from Mount Holyoke College. In addition, she plans to receive an MBA degree from Emory in May.
"It's a great pleasure to join the HDS community and the fine staff at the Andover-Harvard Theological Library," Wood said. "Today's libraries function not only as great collections but also as places of learning, especially with regards to technology. I'm looking forward to working with faculty in support of the mission of the school and to developing additional resources and services."
—by Wendy McDowell