K-School Woman Prof Returns

The first woman granted a lifetime post at the Kennedy School of Government will assume her post on January 1, two years after she left the school, officials said yesterday.

Mary Jo Bane, who left the Kennedy School to take the job of deputy commissioner of the New York state department of social services in 1984, received the tenure offer one year later. Her New York position put her second in command of a budget of $16 billion that covered the New York's welfare, medicare programs and more.

Bane has been hailed by her colleagues as a leader in the field of welfare policy, having performed landmark studies on the effect of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) on family structure and the differences between long-term and short-term welfare dependecies.

"Her knowledge and experience in the areas of human resources, human welfare and what government does for people are very valuable to the Kennedy School," said K-School Academic Dean Albert Carnesale.

While the school has had problems attracting women, Carnesale said "her appointment is a terrific one whether she was a woman, a man or half of each."

"I would just as soon not have been the first woman, but there are a lot of women around here," said Bane, who was an associate professor at the Kennedy School from 1981 to 1984. "Your colleagues are your colleagues."

Bane said she had "very mixed feelings" leaving her position in New York's welfare department. "It was satisfying--I felt as though I were making some contribution."

Bane said she plans to teach two courses in the spring and to continue her research on the effects of welfare. She said one of her courses will concern welfare policy and the other will concern how to best implement such policy.

One of Bane's closest colleagues, Associate Professor of Public Policy David T. Ellwood '75 said Bane was a leader in her field.

"There is a clear sense of the effects her studies have had to bring about targeting funds on long-term welfare recipients," Ellwood said.

Government Professor Hugh Heclo yesterday praised Bane as "first rate in the field."

He said one of her most important studies demonstrated that the size of welfare payments across state lines had little effect on the structure of families within those states.

Kennedy School Dean Graham T. Allison '62 said, at the time of her appointment, that Bane "will strengthen the school's capacity to address issues of domestic policy on management in such areas as human resources, poverty and human services."