(May 30, 2025) As the U.S. federal government intensifies its review of academic institutions, Harvard University has become a focal point in an ongoing debate over governance, admissions, disciplinary policies and research priorities. Federal demands further target Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives urging better cooperation with law enforcement for campus safety, and demanding stricter compliance with reporting rules under the Higher Education Act. A freeze on federal funding and tighter scrutiny of international student enrollment including vetting of social media profiles have triggered legal action and sparked public debate about how universities should balance tradition, inclusion, and academic freedom.
Amid these developments, Harvard’s annual alumni elections have brought two Indian-origin leaders into key roles within its governance. According to the Harvard Gazette, Anjali Sud and Sanjay Seth have recently been elected to prominent positions on the Harvard’s Board of Overseers and Harvard Alumni Association (HAA), respectively. Their appointments highlight the university’s ongoing commitment to a globally diverse alumni community and its tradition of drawing leaders from a wide range of sectors and disciplines.
Harvard University
Strategic appointments in a tumultuous time
The Board of Overseers is Harvard’s second-highest governing body. Anjali Sud will serve a two-year term, filling a vacancy left by Mark Carney who was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Canada in March 2025. Her term begins on May 30. While, Sanjay Seth has been elected as one of six new directors on the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) board, which focuses on deepening alumni engagement. He begins his three-year term on July 1. The elections were the result of a comprehensive alumni voting process, with over 39,000 alumni casting ballots for the Overseers and more than 41,000 for the HAA board. Candidates were nominated by a committee appointed by the HAA executive board.
In light of recent challenges, the outcome of Harvard’s latest alumni elections sends a strong message. The election of Anjali Sud and Sanjay Seth highlights not only personal achievement but also Harvard’s quiet reaffirmation of its global outlook, inclusive values, and institutional autonomy amid mounting political pressures.
Inside Harvard boards’ governance
The Board of Overseers plays a critical role in evaluating Harvard’s academic programs and providing strategic guidance to its leadership. Through a network of visiting committees and internal standing bodies, it probes the quality of education and research across the university’s various schools and departments. The Overseers also hold the power to consent to certain major actions, including the election of Corporation members. In contrast, the HAA board’s role is more community-driven. It seeks to build and strengthen alumni ties across the globe, with recent emphasis on outreach to newer graduates and underrepresented communities.
Anjali Sud: A digital leader with deep Harvard roots
Anjali Sud’s appointment reflects not only her Harvard Business School credentials but also her remarkable trajectory as one of the tech world’s most visible and successful executives. Born in 1983 in Detroit to Punjabi immigrant parents, Sud was raised in Flint, Michigan. At the age of 14, she left for Phillips Andover Academy, one of the country’s most elite boarding schools. She went on to study finance and management at the University of Pennsylvania before earning her MBA from Harvard in 2011.
Anjali Sud
Sud began her career in finance and corporate strategy, holding early roles at Sagent Advisors, Time Warner, and Amazon. In 2014, she joined Vimeo, initially as Head of Global Marketing. Ascending the ranks, she became General Manager of Vimeo’s core creator business and launched several platform innovations. In 2017, she was appointed CEO and led Vimeo through a dramatic transformation from a content producer to a leading software platform for video creators. Under her leadership, Vimeo went public in 2021 and expanded its suite of tools through key acquisitions such as Livestream, Magisto, WIREWAX, and Wibbitz.
After stepping down in 2023, Sud took on the role of CEO at Tubi, the free ad-supported streaming service owned by Fox. Her board affiliations are equally impressive: she serves on the boards of SiriusXM, Dolby Laboratories, and chairs the board of Change.org. She has been named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute, and one of Fortune’s 40 Under 40 most influential leaders. Her accolades from Adweek, Crain’s New York, and The Hollywood Reporter further solidify her place among the most respected names in tech and media.
In a year when Harvard is fighting to protect its internationalism and contemporary relevance, Sud’s presence sends a significant message about the university’s commitment to those values.
Professor Sanjay Seth: A scholar of postcolonial theory rethinking history
Sanjay Seth represents a different but equally vital dimension of leadership. A leading academic voice in postcolonial theory and global historiography, Seth currently serves as Professor of Politics and Director of the Centre for Postcolonial Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is the author of influential works including Beyond Reason: Postcolonial Theory and the Social Sciences, Subject Lessons: The Western Education of Colonial India, and Marxist Theory and Nationalist Politics: Colonial India. His writings have been translated into Portuguese and circulated widely in academic circles across Europe, Latin America, and Asia.
Professor Sanjay Seth
Seth completed his early education in Australia, studying in Sydney and Canberra. His academic journey includes teaching and research positions in Tokyo, Melbourne, and now London. He was also a founding editor of the journal Postcolonial Studies from 1998 to 2020. His research spans modern Indian history, political theory, and cultural translation, making significant contributions to debates on colonialism, knowledge production, and historical methodology.
In a recent lecture in Lisbon, Seth shared insights into his dual upbringing of learning science and rationality at school while observing cultural and spiritual practices at home, often mediated by his mother. This bifurcation, he argued, typifies the colonial experience of knowledge. He spoke of rote learning, not as a failure of education, but as a different epistemic tradition. He questioned the presumed neutrality of “history” as a discipline, arguing that it often smuggles in the subject-object divide and excludes other ways of engaging with the past.
His election to the HAA board adds philosophical depth to Harvard’s alumni engagement efforts. At a time when Western universities are grappling with their colonial legacies and research ecosystem, Seth’s voice is timely.
Harvard’s global slate with multidiscplinary voices at the helm
Anjali Sud and Professor Sanjay Seth join a newly elected cohort that includes professionals from journalism, entertainment, education, and science. Other new members of the Board of Overseers include Mary Louise Kelly, American journalist and co-host of NPR’s All Things Considered; American actor Courtney B. Vance, who serves as president of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation; and United States’s eminent physician Michael Rosenblatt. Joining Seth on the HAA board are Angela Ruggiero, an American Olympic gold medalist and co-founder of Sports Innovation Lab, and American attorney Nicholas Melvoin, a Los Angeles school board member known for his work in education reform.
Indian-origin Anjali Sud and Sanjay Seth bring distinct yet complementary perspectives to Harvard’s leadership structure. Sud, with her experience in global technology and media, and Seth, with his work in critical theory and historical inquiry, contribute to a broader vision of alumni participation and institutional guidance. As Harvard responds to shifting expectations and external scrutiny, the election of Indian-origin members to its boards reflects the broader role of universities as institutions shaped by a diversity of perspectives, backgrounds, and leadership experiences.
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