Rudenstine Balances Experience, New Blood

Now at the end of his second academic year as president of Harvard University, Neil L. Rudenstine can breathe easy.

Well, almost.

When he took Harvard's helm two years ago, Rudenstine was faced with a pressing concern--naming most of his top lieutenants.

Almost immediately he needed to fill four open deanships--at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Kennedy School of Government, the School of Design and the School of Education.

In addition, the president needed a lawyer, since the previous vice president and general counsel had departed along with former President Derek C. Bok. Rudenstine worked expeditiously, filling all the spots by early this academic year.

On the surface, however, filling the spots might create new problems. Harvard, like the Clinton White House, might appear to be run by a bunch of greenhorns.

Not only are the four deans and the general counsel newcomers, but Rudenstine himself had never been a university president, and had not worked at Harvard since 1968. The new provost Rudenstine appointed as his administrative right hand was a professor who had never run anything larger than the Harvard economics department.

Even veteran Harvard officials say it takes on-the-job training to become a good administrator.

"None of us are professionals at... financial planning or personnel planning, strategic planning and all this stuff," says longtime Business School Dean John H. McArthur. "There's no handbook or manual or training program. It's just, one day you're in here and you're sitting at your desk."

But as a rookie himself, Rudenstine has done an admirable job of avoiding Clintonesque pitfalls of relying on too many new and inexperienced staffers.

With the exception of the lawyer--Vice President and General Counsel Margaret H. Marshall, who came to Harvard from a prestigious Boston firm-all of the new appointees came from inside the University, and most of them had experience as associate deans.

In addition, Rudenstine has avoided replacing his predecessor's appointees whenever possible, once again demonstrating a preference for administrative experience over fresh but untested perspectives.

"It's good to have a few people at least who've been around for a while," he says, adding that "new blood" and "new ideas" are important.

The new president has made efforts to retain experienced hands like McArthur and Vice President for Alumni Affairs and Development Fred L. Glimp '50, a consummate University insider who has worked in some capacity for every Harvard president since James Bryant Conant '14.

Today, Rudenstine has only one top administrative spot left to fill, having lost Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs John H. Shattuck to the administration of another new president, Bill Clinton, this spring.

The rapid shift of much of the University's power into the hands of a new guard came at a turbulent time for Harvard in the midst of preparations for a $2 billion capital campaign that would dwarf any previous campaign in the history of higher education.

But as Harvard celebrates its 357th Commencement and the new officials celebrate one or two years of experience under their belts, the turbulence seems to have subsided.

Asked how their novice counter-parts are performing, Harvard's veteran administrators are full of praise. And asked how they are navigating the often complex web of the University's entrenched bureaucracy, Harvard's new administrators are upbeat.

"It's been just terrific," says Design School Dean Peter I. Rowe.

The rookie administrators say they tend to rely on their more experienced colleagues for advice. "You've got a peer group that you can turn to, I find, without embarrassment, and ask questions and get good, reasoned responses," says Rowe.

Rowe says academic planning sessions, at which deans comment on the initiatives being developed by their colleagues, are particularly important. "That's a very good process, I think. It's a very good learning experience," he says.

And the veterans say they are happy to help out.

"There's a lot to learn about the University and that can take a while," says Vice President for Administration Sally H. Zeckhauser, a holdover from the Bok era. "Part of my value is being able to help and give suggestions."

Zeckhauser and other seasoned officials say the turnover has made them feel even more seasoned.

"I had always thought of myself one to two years ago as a new kid on the block," Zeckhauser says.

Dean of the School of Public Health Harvey V. Fineberg '67 echoes that sentiment. "I never expected it, but I'm in the middle group of deans at this stage," says Fineberg, who has led the school for nine years.

While the administrators acknowledge that they serve at the pleasure of the president, they praise Rudenstine for relying on experience where possible, filling only those positions which have happened to become available.

"I have seen administrators come into organizations...who have not fired people but have clearly pushed people out to bring in their own people," says Education School Dean Jerome T. Murphy, who was appointed by Rudenstine last fall. "I see no evidence of that."

And the Business School's McArthur, one of the most entrenched of the Bok era Veterans, takes that argument one step further.

"I'm sure [Rudenstine] tries like hell to keep people here that are here, because it's so hard to find other people," McArthur says.

But even though Rudenstine may be breathing easier now, with only one major appointment still ahead of him, McArthur suggests the extensive administrative turnover of the last two years may not be over.

"These aren't good jobs for people to spend a career in because the place is so small...Every meeting, it's the same people," he says. "Most people, when we hire them...we say when we're talking to them, 'In five or six years, you ought to plan to leave.'"