May Mailman is credited as an animating force behind a strategy that has intimidated independent institutions and undercut years of medical and scientific research.

Harvard and the Trump administration are in the thick of negotiations to restore the university’s funding, moving closer to a deal but with nothing set in stone. A source familiar with the

May Mailman, a Harvard-trained lawyer, was pivotal in President Trump’s campaign targeting elite US universities. She helped craft executive orders restricting gender recognition and used federal funding and civil rights probes to pressure institutions on admissions and diversity policies.