Loeb Fellow in Cambridge | Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD)

Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD)

The Harvard Graduate School of Design trains people who shape cities, landscapes and buildings. In 1968 John L. Loeb and his wife Frances set up the Loeb Fellowship at the school to help revitalize communities. Each year it brings up to 10 experienced practitioners from across the US and the world to Cambridge for a year of learning and reflection. Fellows include civic leaders, journalists, architects, technologists, urban planners and designers, activists, landscape architects, policy makers and public artists, all working to make the world a better place for everyone.

Role

As a 2027-28 Loeb Fellow, you will step back from your daily work for one academic year and live in Cambridge, Massachusetts. You will take classes at Harvard and MIT, learn alongside a small group of fellows, travel together, and build connections that last long after the year ends. The fellowship is for people already doing serious work on the built and natural environment who want to return with fresh ideas, sharper skills and a wider circle of allies.

Responsibilities

• Step away from significant roles with your employer and other work for the fellowship year.
• Attend a 3 to 4 day orientation in mid-August, the week before classes start.
• Live in the Cambridge area while classes are in session.
• Audit at least one course at the GSD each semester, and choose further classes across Harvard and MIT.
• Take part in the weekly Loeb seminar with your cohort.
• Join the weekly fellows' dinners.
• Travel with the group on the fall and spring study tours and retreats.
• Build lasting ties with your cohort and the global network of Loeb alumni.
• Use the year to rethink and strengthen your work on revitalizing communities.

Requirements

• At least 8 years of working experience in your field. The fellowship is for people in mid-career.
• Work that shapes the built or natural environment and leads to positive social outcomes, for example civic leadership, journalism, architecture, technology, urban planning and design, activism, landscape architecture, policy or public art.
• A degree is not required. Students are not eligible.
• Academics are usually not eligible unless more than half of their time goes into practice.
• Applicants from every country are welcome. International Fellows must be eligible for a US J-1 visa when they are selected.
• Willingness to live in the Cambridge area for the academic year. Fellows arrive in mid-August, and the program officially ends the day after commencement. Fellows in fellowship housing must move out by June 30 at the latest.
• Time to fully take part in classes, the weekly seminar, weekly dinners, study tours and retreats.
• An online application through SlideRoom, a resume and three letters of recommendation. Letters are due by January 12, 2027.
• A portfolio or supplemental materials are optional, and applicants are encouraged to send up to five documents.
• There is no fee to apply.
• Fellows pay for their own health insurance and child care, because the program does not cover them.

Benefits

• A stipend of $57,500 for the academic year, which counts as taxable income.
• Help with housing for Fellows and their families who come from outside the Boston and Cambridge area.
• A travel grant, paid in the fall semester, that covers about one economy round trip home per semester.
• Free auditing of regular classes at Harvard and MIT.
• A full year of space to learn, reflect and try new ideas away from daily work.
• A lifelong global network of Loeb Fellows and alumni working to improve communities.

Apply

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