From the CFIA Director: Some Facts

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

Many of the articles and manifestoes about the Center for International Affairs have raised basic issues regarding social science research and the nature of the University which extend far beyond the activities of the Center. Some of these issues are discussed by others. This letter is limited to correcting certain factual statements or implications of fact regarding the origin, financing, and operation of the Center which are untrue.

1. The Center was created solely as a result of a 1956 report of a University-wide faculty committee which included Dean Bundy and Professors Rupert Emerson, Merle Fainsod, Lincoln Gordon, Milton Katz, William Langer and Edward Mason. No government agency had any part whatever in initiating, organizing, or financing the formation of the Center.

2. From the start the purpose of the Center has been to study the processes of change affecting international affairs, especially in the fields of development, the role and control of force, and the relations among the advanced countries of Europe and the Atlantic area. It has sought to foster work drawing on various disciplines and on field studies and experience.

3. The Center completed eleven years of operation on June 30, 1969. In that period its expenditures for all programs (except the Development Advisory Service) have amounted to just over $7 million, excluding the costs of facilities and services provided by the University. The support for these expenditures has been provided from the following sources:

Private grants and gifts (Ford, Rockefeller, Carnegie, etc.) 70.8%

Endowment and University 13.2

AID 5.6

National Science Foundation and Institute of Mental Health 4.9

Defense Department 4.2

Arms Control Agency 1.0

Miscellaneous 9

100.0%

4. The Center is an integral part of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. It is run by the Director and other faculty members permanently associated with it (now called the Executive Committee), each of whom also holds an appointment in one of the regular Departments, such as Government, Economics, Social Relations, or the Business School.

5. The Center has no policy line or doctrine. The Center supports research solely on the basis of political views of its members and associates vary widely, scholarly standards- potential contribution to knowledge and competence of the researchers. It does not sponsor or support any classified research.

6. The Program for Fellows is similar in character and purpose to those of the Nieman Foundation and the Kennedy School and to some advanced programs in the professional schools. Its purpose is to enable officials and others engaged in public life from many countries to spend an academic year at Harvard as a form of advanced training suited to their individual interests.

7. The DAS (Development Advisory Service) provides its advisory services only on invitation from a host country and under contract between Harvard and that country. About one-half of the expert advisors come from countries other than the United States. Currently the DAS has contracts with Colombia, Ghana, Indonesia, Liberia, Malaysia, and Pakistan.

The total expenditures and sources of support for the Development Advisory Service from its formation on July 1, 1962 to June 30, 1969 are attached.

EXPENDITURES OF THE DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY SERVICE

Programs Total Expenditures (thousands of dollars) Source %

Country Advisory Projects Ford Foundation, 9,736.3 United Nations, World Bank, and recipient countries 85.8

Cambridge Research U.S. Agency for International 444.3 Development 3.9

Public Service Fellows Ford Foundation, United Nations, U.S. Agency for International Development and Sponsoring Country Governments

Backstopping Grant Ford Foundation 85.7 0.8

11,349.6 100.0

Exclusive of research financed from country projects funds.

Estimated expenditures since the beginning of the program in 1960. Exclusive of fellowships financed from country project funds.

Includes conferences, project feasibility studies, terminal salary payments, etc.

Since 1959 the Center has regularly published an annual report of 50-100 pages, which describes in detail its research and other activities, shows its expenditures and main sources of income, and summarizes the background of all members and associates of the Center. Anyone interested in further information about the Center and its activities may obtain copies of these reports.