Profs Back Liberal Candidates

Among the Cambridge residents heading to the polls today will be hundreds of Harvard professors and administrators, but some of them have already given their cash and their names to the heated election battle.

Two liberal candidates, in particular, have made the most of their highly-credentialed constituency by sending out campaign mailings listing their luminary backers.

Leading the Harvard name-dropping fest--in a contest where the undergraduate vote could play an important role--have been mayor Francis H. Duehay '55 and Councilor David E. Sullivan, a Law School graduate.

Duehay, who taught at the Graduate School of Education and as mayor chairs Cambridge's School Committee, has garnered public endorsements from Dean of the Ed School Patricia A. Graham and Dean of the Graduate School of Design (GSD) Gerald M. McCue, among others.

Sullivan, on the other hand, gets support from such high-caliber Cantabrigians as Warburg Professor of Economics Emeritus John Kenneth Galbraith and Thomas Professor of Divinity Harvey G. Cox Jr.

Both incumbents are endorsed by the liberal Cambridge Civic Association, which advocates strict rent control regulations and strong social programs.

John Womack Jr. '59, Bliss Professor of Latin American History and Economics, said he gave Duehay his endorsement on a recent campaign letter from "Cambridge Educators for Frank Duehay" because of his innovative and positive stands on public education and housing.

"I think over a long time he has been a not only sane figure in Cambridge politics but has been on the right side of a lot of issues," Womack said yesterday.

Galbraith, who appears on Sullivan's much-used campaign letterhead, said the MIT graduate was "a first-rate man, young, energetic and exceptionally alert in council operations."

Old teachers also displayed marked favoritism towards their former pupils, as at least Sullivan and moderate Coalition '85 candidate Hugh Adams Russell '64 turned to Harvard ex-mentors for public backing.

GSD Professor and Cambridge resident William A. Doebele has endorsed Russell and acts as a campaign consultant, he said. He added that he appreciated his old student's "maturity in understanding the issues."

Doebele, who this year marks his first venture into Cambridge politics, added that he worked with Russell on a plan for the conservation of Mid-Cambridge.

Stimson Professor of Law Emeritus Martin M. Katz '27, who once taught Sullivan, said he has endorsed him and given money to several of his earlier campaigns.

And some Harvard officials and lobbying specialists weren't willing to go public with their ideas.

"All I can say is that I won't write my own name on the ballot," said President Derek C. Bok. Seconded Bok's Vice President for Government and Public Affairs John Shattuck, "I'll exercise my right of secret ballot vote.