Dear Harvard College students,

I write today to share that former Dean of Harvard College Benedict Gross ’71 passed away recently. Professor Gross was a longstanding and treasured member of the Harvard College community.

During his undergraduate years he lived in both Adams and Currier, making him among the first cohort of men to move to the Quad when Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges integrated housing. He would go on to earn a Marshall Scholarship and a PhD from the Mathematics Department in 1978. He joined the faculty in 1985 and served faithfully in many administrative roles including Chair of the Math Department, Dean of Undergraduate Education, and eventually Dean of the College.

Professor Gross welcomed students into the world of Mathematics. For many years he taught a quantitative reasoning course called “The Magic of Numbers”. He credited Math 55 with both challenging him and setting his career trajectory that included sharing the Cole Prize of the American Mathematical Society in 1987. While he taught his last class at Harvard in 2015, his many contributions were recognized in August 2025 with the establishment of the Benedict H. Gross Distinguished Visitors Program by the Math Department.

As Dean of Harvard College, Professor Gross led a review of the undergraduate curriculum and focused on developing concentrations, tutoring, the first-year seminar program, study abroad, and undergraduate research. Much of that work, and the efforts he led as Dean of Undergraduate Education from 2002 – 2003, built the modern undergraduate experience.

A colleague remarked upon walking through Harvard Yard how every student seemed to know Professor Gross when he was here. His spirit remains with us, even if we never took his courses or taught with him. I encourage you to read more about his career including his time as a Marshall Scholar, his award for his research, and his teaching in this faculty spotlight from the Math Department.

Harvard College is an amazing place because of the people who are here and because of those, like Dean Gross, who have nurtured it over time. May we be ever thankful for the shade of trees planted by others.

Please join me in sending well wishes to his family, colleagues, and former students.

Warmly,

David

David J. Deming
Danoff Dean of Harvard College