Board of Trustees Update, Feb. 10, 2026

College Community,

The Harvey Mudd College Board of Trustees held its January meeting Friday–Saturday, Jan. 30–31. We were delighted to be back on campus engaging with the Harvey Mudd community, and we enjoyed our opportunities to attend classes, meet with you and hear what was on your minds. During our board meetings, we discussed several topics and made some key decisions that we’d like to share with the campus community.

On Friday morning during our plenary session, President Nembhard provided an update on planning for the College’s upcoming comprehensive fundraising campaign. Pending board approval in our May meeting this year, we plan to begin the leadership phase at the start of next fiscal year, July 1, 2026, with a goal to complete the campaign in eight years. Work continues on refining goals and fundraising areas for the campaign. We look forward to sharing more details after our May meeting.

Trustees enjoyed our opportunities to hear more about what is going on around the campus through our conversations over lunch with faculty on Friday, our Friday dinner with students and our coffee with staff. These interactions provided valuable insights and demonstrated the tremendous work and dedication you each bring to drive our campus forward toward the ambitious goals outlined in our STEM for a Better World strategic plan.

On Saturday morning, the board heard from Chair of the Faculty and Professor of Mathematics Talithia Williams on several topics including the ad hoc artificial intelligence study group created by the faculty as well as updates on the Core Impact Course. We appreciated Professor Williams’ report and are grateful for her leadership.

We also received updates from our ASHMC Student Body President Aditi Bonthu ’26 and Senate Chair Simone Yang ’26 on their efforts to strengthen policies, preserve the students’ history and traditions and bring more student voices into critical conversations on campus. We applaud their work as well as that of all of our student leaders on campus. We thank you for your enthusiasm and ongoing support of Harvey Mudd.

Kathy French ’97 updated trustees on the work of our Alumni Association Board of Governors to support recruitment and fundraising efforts of the College as well as to provide ongoing professional development and mentoring support for our students. We thank our many alumni volunteers for their dedication to ensuring the ongoing success of our students and alumni.

In addition to these important discussions, the board also made some key decisions during our meetings, including:

Campus Improvements

The Physical Plant and Campus Planning Committee (PPCPC) approved several projects to take place beginning this summer as part of the College’s Renewal and Replacement Reserve Program. These include:

• Replacement of the Hoch-Shanahan Dining Commons roof and HVAC system
• Additional HVAC repairs to the Drinkward Residence Hall
• Replacement of three of the six boilers in the Libra Complex Central Plant
• Refurbishment of Atwood Residence Hall
• Building Automation System Repair/Replacement, which serves several buildings including Olin, Jacobs, Keck, Parsons, Sprague, Hoch–Shanahan, Linde Activities Center and Sontag, East, North and South residence halls.

In addition to these repairs, the PPCPC approved and recommended to the full board, and the board approved the following projects for completion this summer:

• Replacement of the South (Marks) Residence Hall HVAC system
• Refurbishment of South (Marks) Residence Hall living spaces
• Replacement of the Jacobs-Keck roof

Faculty Actions

• The Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) recommended, and the board approved, granting tenure and promotion to associate professor for Anup Gampa (humanities, social sciences, and the arts), Jamie Haddock (mathematics) and Heather Zinn Brooks (mathematics).
• The AAC approved the first reappointment for assistant professors Dre Helmns (engineering), Maduka Ogba (chemistry), Arthi Padmanabhan (computer science), Calden Wloka (computer science), and Bilin Zhuang (chemistry).
• The above faculty actions are effective July 1. We congratulate these faculty members and thank them for their outstanding service to the College.

Board Leadership

On recommendation of the Board Affairs Committee, the trustees elected as vice chairs of the board Autumn Preskill ’09 and Bruce DePriester ’74 effective immediately.

During our meetings, we also discussed the recent fire at Atwood Residence Hall. We are relieved that no students were injured and very grateful for the community’s quick response. While we expect repairs will take several weeks, we appreciate the staff, faculty and parents who reached out to help our displaced students. We also thank Pomona and Claremont McKenna colleges for providing housing and support. The strength of our community is truly inspiring.

In closing, Saturday the board discussed additional details related to our campaign planning, including a possible Campaign Leadership Summit this fall to officially kick off the leadership phase of the next campaign for Harvey Mudd College. This will represent an important milestone in the history of the College as collectively, we unite in sharing our bold aspirations for the future. We will share more details in the months to come. In the meantime, thank you all for your continued support of Harvey Mudd College. We are excited about the tremendous opportunities that lie ahead.

Sincerely,

James Bean ’77
Chair, HMC Board of Trustees