Back to the Bench

Harvard University's provost, Steven Hyman, is stepping down at the end of the academic year to return to research, reports The Boston Globe. Hyman is a trained neuroscientist and he plans to take a sabbatical year at the Broad Institute, which the Globe notes, was one of Hyman's efforts to spur interdisciplinary research. "I had intended to do this [job] for five years ... but things at Harvard were turbulent and complicated, and it seemed wrong to step away from this at times of difficulty," Hyman tells the Globe, which adds that Harvard has gotten through the resignation of Larry Summers and the financial crisis. "Part of the timing now, besides the fact that 10 years is a good run, is that Harvard has weathered a lot of storms and has a very strong leadership team and strong president and is doing fine."