Debora Spar

Director at Thermo Fisher Scientific

Ms. Spar is currently a Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. She served as President of Barnard College from 2008 to 2017, where she led several key initiatives to highlight the leadership and advancement of women. She also served as President and Chief Executive Officer at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts from 2017 to 2018.

Prior to joining Barnard, Ms. Spar was the Spangler Family Professor at Harvard Business School for 17 years and served as Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Research and Development. Her research has focused on issues related to international political economy, examining how rules are established in new or emerging markets and how firms and governments together shape the evolving global economy. More recently, Ms. Spar's research has concentrated on gender and technology, and the interplay between technological change and broader social structures.

Ms. Spar is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a trustee of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, a non-profit medical research organization. She also served as a director of Goldman Sachs until 2017.

Timeline

  • Director

    Current role