Harvard Board of Overseers
The
Harvard Board of Overseers (more formally
The Honorable and Reverend The Board of Overseers) is the second of
Harvard University's two governing boards. Although its function is more consultative and less hands-on than the
President and Fellows of Harvard College, the Board of Overseers is sometimes referred to as the "senior" governing board because its formation predates the fellows'
1650 incorporation.
Today there are 30 overseers, all directly elected by
alumni; at one point the board was self-perpetuating. Originally the overseers included,
ex officio, the public officials and puritan clergy of
Cambridge and the neighboring towns (hence the "honorable and reverend" of the title).
*[https://post.harvard.edu/harvard/alumni/html/all_overseers.html University Overseers]
*
Governance of the University from The Harvard Guide
