Biography

Farhat (Meena) J. Lakhavani is the Chief Information Officer at the Harvard Kennedy School since January 2021. Meena is responsible for engaging with key stakeholders and partners to define and develop IT services that support the mission and vision of the college. She is also responsible for leading transformational change within the institution.

Prior to joining Harvard University in 2021, she was the CIO & Vice Provost for Information Technology at the State University of New York (SUNY-Erie). She held various positions at Carnegie Mellon University over period of 28 years -- from Manager of Research Computing to the Director of Academic Technology Services Strategy. She has also taught in the undergraduate, graduate and executive programs at Carnegie Mellon University and at the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to joining Carnegie Mellon University, she was a Senior Scientist with Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Meena holds a B.A. in Humanities, a M.S. in Computer Science and has completed doctoral course work in Computer Science at the University of Pittsburgh. Meena has presented her work at national and international conferences and has published extensively. She actively participates in various national organizations and has served on national advisory committees such as the EDUCAUSE Professional Advisory Committee.