News Features & Releases

Former HGSE Assistant Dean Receives Harvard Alumni Award

Posted: October 12, 2006

Frank Duehay, a former HGSE assistant dean, will receive the Harvard Alumni Association Award on Thursday, October 12.

The HAA Awards were established in 1990 to recognize outstanding service to Harvard University through alumni activities. Duehay is one of six Harvard University alums to receive this acknowledgement at the HAA Board of Directors meeting.

"The most significant aspect of this award is that it highlights the significance of undergraduate public service at Harvard College to the larger body of Harvard alumni," Duehay says.

Duehay has a long-standing history with HGSE and the university. Over the years, he has served as an administrator, teacher, and community leader. During his years as assistant dean and a lecturer at the Ed School, he worked hard to bring more diversity to the school's student population.

He was also the director of graduate programs in educational administration and an associate director of the Harvard Summer School. He has had a long association with the Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA) as a former faculty committee member and former member of its board of directors and advisory committee. He most recently led a successful four-year capital campaign for the PBHA, which involved his 50th reunion class and endowed and named the executive directorship. The campaign topped its goal of $7.2 million by raising nearly $7.8 million.

"PBHA involves 1800 students annually in 75 different programs mostly benefiting underserved communities in Cambridge and Boston," Duehay says. "Students learn about the people who live in these urban communities as they provide carefully crafted programs. In this part of Harvard, often hidden from public view, students begin a lifetime of informed public service."

Duehay has also served 36 years as an elected official in the City of Cambridge, and during this period was three times elected Mayor. He is currently chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Cambridge Health Alliance, a governmental health and hospital system affiliated with the Harvard Medical School, the Harvard School of Public Health, and the Tufts Medical School.