CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Harvard University history professor and former dean Ernest May died Monday. He was 80.

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences said May died at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston from complications following surgery.

May was Harvard College dean from 1969 to 1971 and oversaw a major examination of undergraduate education.

May, a renowned historian of international relations and foreign policy, also served as director of the John F. Kennedy School of Government's Institute of Politics from 1971 to 1974.

More recently, he was senior adviser to the 9/11 Commission from 2002 to 2004.

Kennedy School Dean David Elmwood says May devoted his life to teaching people how to use history to make effective policy decisions.