Harvard University announced, Thursday, the selection of Claudine Gay, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, as its president to become the 30th president, the first black or African-American woman and only the second woman to hold this position.

Gay, who joined Harvard University as Professor of Government in 2006, will succeed Lawrence Bacco as President of the prestigious university, and will take up her duties in July 2023.

"Claudine is an outstanding leader dedicated to preserving and advancing Harvard's academic excellence," Penny Pritzker, Under Secretary of Commerce under former President Barack Obama and chair of the search committee, said in a written statement.

Gay will be taking the job in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at a time when enrollment in many US colleges and universities is declining as applicants increasingly look at the benefits of higher education over the higher tuition fees.

According to the university's website, tuition fees for full-time students are $54,768 annually

"With this extraordinary institution and its strength at our back, we enter a moment of possibility, a moment that calls for deeper collaboration at the University, and in all of our wonderful Faculties," Gay said in a written statement.

And she continued, "Harvard is in dire need to engage with the world and present bold, courageous and pioneering thought to meet our greatest challenges."

Harvard University was founded in 1636 and is the oldest institution of higher education in the United States. It is noteworthy that the university had received donations worth $50.9 billion for the fiscal year 2022 from 14,000 different funds.