Higher Education Strategy and Innovation

Fernando Reimers has worked extensively on higher education strategy, academic innovation, institutional leadership, and the development of programs that connect universities more closely with global challenges and public purposes.

At Harvard, he has created and led several academic programs in international education, education policy, and leadership. He directed the International Education Policy master’s program for more than two decades and currently co-chairs both the International Education Policy and Management master’s program and the Global, Comparative and International Education concentration. He has also contributed to university-wide leadership and professional education initiatives, including the Harvard Ministerial Leadership Program and the Advanced Leadership Initiative.

His work at Harvard has extended beyond individual academic programs to the broader international strategy of the university. He has served on the University Committee on International Projects and Sites and on the governing or executive bodies of centers and initiatives focused on Africa, Asia, China, Latin America, international development, and international affairs. These roles have included service with the Center for African Studies, the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, the South Asia Initiative, the Harvard China Fund, the Center for International Development, and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. Through this work, he has contributed to discussions about how a research university can strengthen international scholarship, education, partnerships, and public engagement.

From 2012 to 2019, Reimers served on the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education, following his appointment by the governor. He chaired the board’s Strategic Planning Committee, helping align the strategies of the Commonwealth’s public colleges and universities with a shared statewide vision. He also co-chaired task forces on online learning and on the prevention of campus violence and sexual assault.

Reimers has advised universities in the United States and internationally on the development of institutional strategies, the creation and review of academic programs, curriculum innovation, internationalization, and the alignment of teaching, research, and public engagement with institutional mission. His approach emphasizes that strategic planning should do more than produce a formal document: it should establish shared purposes, strengthen organizational capacity, guide resource allocation, and create the conditions for sustained learning and innovation.

A recurring theme in this work is the responsibility of universities to respond to the defining challenges of their time. Reimers has advocated academic programs and institutional strategies that prepare students to contribute to democracy, sustainability, global understanding, educational equity, and responsible innovation. He views universities not as institutions standing apart from society, but as essential partners in producing knowledge, developing leadership, and advancing the public good.