Iranians Appoint Keenan Governor Of Grad School

The Iranian government has named Edward L. Keenan Jr. '57, professor of History, to the nine-man governing board of the planned Reza Shah Kebi University.

Keenan, John D. Baldeschwieler, professor of Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology, and Robert F. Goheen, former president of Princeton University, accepted offers last week from the Iranian Ministry of Education to serve on the board.

The Iranian government contracted Harvard last year to draw up a feasibility plan for the research-oriented graduate school.

Keenan was instrumental in writing that plan, which recommended that the government establish a 500-student school with an administration modeled after Harvard's.

Keenan's governing board position compares to the position of Fellow in Harvard's Corporation, Keenan said yesterday.

Baldeschwieler said yesterday that initially the governors will formulate admissions policy and select faculty for the university.

"We'll have an influence on the choice of descriptions and selection of people," Baldeschwieler said. "We'll be directly involved in establishing policies for research and training."

All three men said they do not know the duration of their appointments.

But Keenan said he will be able to fulfill his duties as a governor on weekends, enabling him to continue teaching full-time at Harvard.

Although the Iranian Ministry has not yet decided how to pay the governors, Keenan said, "It's not going to cost us anything."

The Iranian ministry has chosen five Iranians for the remaining governor positions. The provost, who will also sit on the governing board, has yet to be named.

Richard G. Leahy, associate dean of the Faculty for resources and planning, said yesterday there is a chance that an American may be named as provost to the graduate school. Leahy, who was a member of the joint Harvard-Iran commission that drew up the plan, declined to speculate further.

Keenan said the governors and ministry of education will meet over Thanksgiving to discuss the role of the governing boards.