Harvard Names First Female President

What has been rumoured for a few days became official this afternoon: Drew Gilpin Faust will be the new president of Harvard, and in addition to its first female president, the first president since 1672 who did not receive a degree from the institution.

Also notable is that Dr. Faust was involved in the aftermath of former Harvard president Lawrence Summers ' comments about women not having an aptitude for science and math. Prior to his resignation, she led committees to balance out the number of women recruited and retained on the campus.

While initially this might not seem like it's big bioethics news, I think it's certainly important news for women. It's another glass ceiling being broken, and as the president of Harvard, Dr. Faust (and oh, I can already see the jokes) is going to be a very important figure in science and the humanities.

Besides, it's just kind of cool.