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DEBORA L. SPAR

Debora L. Spar

BIOGRAPHY

Professor Spar is the Spangler Family Professor of Business Administration and has been Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Research and Development at Harvard Business School, two roles that made her candidacy particularly compelling for us. In one, she epitomizes the teacher-scholar model that is the linchpin of Barnard’s superb faculty. In the other, she has been a stellar administrator who has brought innovative leadership to governance issues. And despite the demands of both she has also devoted herself to the concerns of social justice that are so important to our students; she has served as Chair of the Harvard University Committee on Human Rights and is the creator and Chair of Making Markets Work, a program to develop leaders in both the private and public sector in African nations.

As Senior Associate Dean, Professor Spar was responsible for distributing nearly $20 million in research funds by working closely with faculty on their project goals and demands. She instituted a fellowship that allows faculty members to live abroad to work on international research, and a program that brings visiting scholars from other countries to Harvard. Professor Spar also developed a new policy on family leave and led the effort to develop a part-time tenure track.

Professor Spar has been awarded the Student Association Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching and often serves as an advisor for students on research projects. She is the author of dozens of the case studies that are used in Harvard Business School classes. These reflect her expertise in both international affairs and ethical issues, and include “The Pharmaceutical Industry Responds to AIDS,” “Union Carbide’s Bhopal Plant,” and “Nike and International Labor Practices.” She frequently acts as a consultant for multinational corporations, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations.

Professor Spar has written four books and co-authored two. Her most recent, The Baby Business, was published in 2006 and explored the economic, political and social issues surrounding reproductive technologies. She has appeared on 60 Minutes, The Newshour with Jim Lehrer, ABC World News Tonight, and in many newspapers and magazines. Her own articles have appeared in publications ranging from The New England Journal of Medicine to Foreign Affairs to The Review of International Political Economy.

Professor Spar received her doctorate in government from Harvard; her thesis on international commodity cartels was published as a book in 1994. She is a 1984 graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. She is married to Miltos Catomeris, an architect whose specialty is academic, institutional and corporate campuses. They are the parents of three children.