University Hall Shuffle

Dean of the Faculty Henry Rosovsky leans back in a chair in his University Hall office, props his feet up on another chair, and smiles.

With 40 days left in office, by his count, Rosovsky says that there are no more pressing issues to tackle. "If I can make certain decisions before I go, then I'll make them. It not, then I'll try to prepare them in such a way that he can make them," Rosovsky says.

"He" is A. Michael Spence, dean of the Faculty designate, whose semester long training session ends July 1. At February's Faculty meeting, when President Bok announced Spence's appointment to the Faculty, Rosovsky jocularly promised to grade Spence and report back. These days, he says, he is pleased with Spence's progress, though "when we sit down we have so much to talk about (that) it's gone much slower than I expected."

"He was a student of mine at one time," says the dean. "I like him a lot, and I've found it easy to talk to him."

In particular, Rosovsky is pleased with Spence's ability to learn by doing. This way Rosovsky says, "I kill two birds with one stone." Spence gets trained and the normal work gets done at the same time.

In fact, Rosovsky says, transition work probably takes only 10 percent of his time. One or two afternoons a week, the once and future deans sit in Rosovsky's office, "drinking brandy and talking, in two ways--free associating and going down agenda items."

Most of the dean's time is spent on such perennial matters as the budget, appointments, and departmental planning.

Rosovsky drags Spence to the myriad committee meetings that fill his calendar, but he has not found the transition to be like a final dash to the finish line. "It's more like a relay race," says Rosovsky. "I'm still running, and I'm getting ready to pass the baton to Michael Spence, and then he'll start running."

The present transition marks the first orderly passing of the baton in a number of years, Rosovsky points out. The last dean of the Faculty, John E. Dunlop, accepted a post in the Nixon Administration and left on short notice in 1973. Franklin Ford left office in 1969 at a time of turbulence, and before him, McGeorge Bundy "went to Washington very suddenly," Rosovsky notes. As far back as the '50's, Pearl Buck resigned somewhat precipitously when Nathan M. Pusey '28 became President of Harvard.

"I think I had less training--certainly less organizational training--than he has," Rosovsky says. "I've reviewed all the departments with him I've reviewed people with him," Rosovsky adds Spence might decide to do things differently, but "at least he will know what one way of doing it was."

The only taxing aspect of the transition, says the dean, is the public speaking. "I'm doing an extraordinary amount of public speaking at alumni groups and fundraising because everyone says. 'This is our last chance; let's invite the dean.'"

"It's hard to say no," Rosovsky adds.

At a recent speaking engagement Rosovsky was named an honorary member of the Harvard Class of '27, he says, making him one of the few people around to have a degree in the year they were born.

After giving a flurry of speeches over Commencement Week, Rosovsky says. "I plan to have a very low posture."

The dean, whom Bok has named University Professor, is taking off the next four fall semesters to make up for having taken no leaves of absence since he arrived at Harvard some 20 years ago. "I'll be traveling a lot, but in relatively short trips," he says.

In addition, Rosovsky says he wants to do a lot of writing. His specialty is Japanese economic history, but he says his first post-deanship book is going to be about the University--"on the basis not of memoirs, but of the problems of universities."