Debora L. Spar is the current Senior Associate Dean of Harvard Business School Online and former President of

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

, a liberal arts college for women of

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. As President of Barnard, she was also an academic dean within Columbia University. Spar was appointed Barnard's 7th president in July 2008 and replaced

Judith Shapiro Judith R. Shapiro (born January 24, 1942) is a former President of Barnard College, a liberal arts college for women at Columbia University. Prior to her role at Barnard, she had a teaching career as a cultural anthropologist at Bryn Mawr Colleg ...

, Barnard's 6th president, after a teaching career at

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

where she was Professor of

Business Administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

and Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Research and Development. Spar was appointed the 10th president of

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

, beginning in March 2017, but announced her resignation in April 2018 after only about one year in the position. She became the new Senior Associate Dean of Harvard Business School Online in January 2020.

Education

Spar graduated ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' in 1984 from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

and completed her Ph.D. at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in government.

Research and academic interests

Spar has written about the economics of the human fertility industry and the evolution of the Internet. Her work on the economics of fertility drew wide attention. She has appeared on ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...

'', '' The News Hour'' with

Jim Lehrer James Charles Lehrer ( ; May 19, 1934 – January 23, 2020) was an American journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and playwright. He was the executive editor and a news anchor for the ''PBS News Hour'' on PBS and was known for his role as a debate ...

, ''

ABC World News Tonight ''ABC World News Tonight'' (titled ''ABC World News Tonight with David Muir'' for its weeknight broadcasts since September 2014) is the flagship daily evening television news program of ABC News, the news division of the American Broadcasting ...

'', and in many newspapers and magazines. Her own articles have appeared in publications ranging from ''

The New England Journal of Medicine ''The New England Journal of Medicine'' (''NEJM'') is a weekly medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. Founded in 1812, the journal is among the most prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals. Its 2023 impact factor w ...

'' to ''

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...

'' to '' The Review of International Political Economy''. In 2001, she wrote an article called "Why the Internet Doesn't Change Everything" which described the distinctive nature of the internet industry. Her book, ''The Baby Business: How Money, Science and Politics Drive the Commerce of Conception'', pioneered research about the economy of alternative fertility. Spar was the first academic to mention fertility as a transaction through a business framework. In various interviews online, Spar said that when she picked up the research topic of fertility through an economic lens, her colleagues did not take her seriously and called her soft. She followed up in 2006 with a book named ''The Hidden Market for Babies.'' Spar has also written about AIDS, African economics, the global economy, the balance of power, and terrorism. A leading figure in business academics, Spar also ran Making Markets Work, joint program between Harvard Business School and the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria (, ) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and ''de facto'' capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 as the Pretoria campus of the Johan ...

Gordon Institute of Business Science. The course in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

teaches about the

interconnection In telecommunications, interconnection is the physical linking of a carrier's network with equipment or facilities not belonging to that network. The term may refer to a connection between a carrier's facilities and the equipment belonging to its ...

of the public and private sectors' effects on

economic growth In economics, economic growth is an increase in the quantity and quality of the economic goods and Service (economics), services that a society Production (economics), produces. It can be measured as the increase in the inflation-adjusted Outp ...

. Spar also spearheaded the initiative in

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

, where cabinet members learned about executive education.

Leadership

During her inaugural address on October 23, 2008, Spar cited a number of goals for her term as President of Barnard College. Paramount were her desire to make Barnard a more internationally recognized institution for women, as well as expand and improve the current Barnard Leadership Initiative (BLI). She followed up on this goal by converting BLI into Barnard's Athena Center for Leadership Studies. Spar also served as a member of the Board of Directors of American investment bank

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

from June 2011 to April 2017.

Works

* ''The Baby Business'', Harvard Business School Press, 2006 * ''Ruling the Waves: Cycles of Discovery, Chaos, and Wealth from the Compass to the Internet'' * ''The Cooperative Edge: The Internal Politics of International Cartels'' * ''Beyond Globalism: Remaking American Foreign Economic Policy'' * ''Wonder Women: Sex, Power, and the Quest for Perfection'', 2013 * ''Work Mate Marry Love: How Machines Shape Our Human Destiny'', 2020

References

External links

Debora Spar profile
, Barnard College
"Debora Spar collected news and commentary"
''Columbia Spectator'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Spar, Debora Living people Presidents of Barnard College Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni Harvard University alumni Columbia University faculty Harvard Business School faculty Academic staff of the University of Pretoria Directors of Goldman Sachs American Jews Year of birth missing (living people)