University Couples

In a student life survey earlier this year, the Crimson found that only about two thirds of the college's undergraduates have had a romantic relationship lasting more than a week.

Some Harvard officials have had better luck.

For several married couples in University ranks, Harvard has been more than a job--it's been a meeting place, a family and a life's work.

From Oxford, With Love

Jane S. Knowles, acting director of the Schlesinger Library, and Jeremy R. Knowles, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, came to Harvard in 1974. Both the Knowles' are products of Oxford upbringings and education. He joined the Harvard chemistry department; she, a historian, applied to be Radcliffe's archivist a few years later.

"We became a Harvard-Radcliffe couple without ever really intending to," Jane Knowles says. She explains that, at the time, there was hardly another job in the area more removed from her husband's.

"It was as different from Harvard as if I were joining the Gillette company," she says.

The Knowleses settled easily into Harvard life, and speak fondly of their early years in Cambridge. Jeremy Knowles' research went very well, Jane Knowles was excited by her new job, and both were thrilled by their interaction with new friends and their students.

But neither predicted what would happen when their oldest son, Sebastian D. G. Knowles '83, became a Harvard first-year.

"We delivered him to Greenough and after about four days, we received a letter," Jeremy Knowles says. "He was one mile from home, 200 yards from my office, 300 yards from his mother's office--we got the point."

Soon, however, Sebastian was bringing friends home to supper--and Harvard had earned a permanent place at the Knowles' dinner table.

"The college," the Knowleses say, "is at heart a family."

Since Jeremy Knowles became dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in 1991, the couple has become even closer to the college family. Both speak fondly of the constant stream of new faces--students, faculty, and alumni--who they say make their official dinners a pleasure to host.

But Jane Knowles' role in the Dean's office extends far beyond co-hosting dinners and parties. Jeremy Knowles shares the story of coming home late from the office one night and finding that his wife had already done his homework.

"Oh you're back," he remembers her saying. "You're talking to the class of '69 tomorrow--it's in your calendar. I've found some things for you--they're on the kitchen table."

Jeremy Knowles gives his wife's help an A+. He says her research--capitalizing on her role as Radcliffe archivist--proved invaluable then, and often since, in finding fresh and interesting material for his speeches.

Jane Knowles, however, says that this isn't always how it happens. Amid protests from her husband, she offered the Crimson her dramatization of the Dean at the breakfast table.

"I need some jokes," Jane Knowles says as she closes the door behind her, mimicking her husband's morning departure routine. Jeremy Knowles agrees that much of his best speechwriting humor comes from his wife.

With the new merger between Harvard and Radcliffe, the Knowleses say they have a renewed sense of working together.

"It's so much easier, so much more fun," Jeremy Knowles says.

Jane Knowles says she felt the Harvard-Radcliffe relationship was ambiguous since she first became Radcliffe College Archivist.

"I've always thought that the [1977] merger was incomplete," she says. "It's such a relief to have this resolved and to be part of the family."

Their partnership has also given them insight into the relationship between the two colleges.

"My wife has seen Radcliffe through Harvard's eyes, and I've seen Harvard through Radcliffe's," Jeremy Knowles says.

And both the chemist and the historian say that they love what they do and where they do it.

"You can be divided by your professional lives or brought together," Jane Knowles says, "and we're very fortunate that we've been brought together.

As Harvard As....

John B. Fox, Jr. '59 and Julia G. Fox have more Harvard ties than the Coop. So many, that it's not surprising their careers have centered on the College.

The Foxes met through his Harvard roommate; John Fox's father was a dean at Harvard Business School; and the Foxes' son Thomas graduated from the college in 1995. John Fox was a Harvard undergraduate and a dean of the college; Julia Fox, a Wellesley undergraduate, was a Harvard community volunteer and well-known faculty spouse.

"[In general] you can change jobs and it doesn't affect the family," John Fox says, "But for us our jobs and our family are sometimes intertwined."

John Fox recalls one of his favorite Harvard-family memories from his time as dean of the college. His family would often pick him up from the office on Fridays en route to a weekend retreat.

"Mrs. Fox would gather the children into the car and pull up to Johnston Gate," John Fox says. "From my window then, I could see these two individuals running absolutely pell-mell across the yard...it was really quite cute."

Now, their children grown and graduated, the Foxes both work in University Hall, he as secretary of the Faculty and she as director of the College parents' association and coordinator of transfer and visiting student programs.

"Both of us were asked to come to University Hall quite separately," John Fox says. "In our responsibilities we don't function as a couple at all."

Still, the Foxes say that they do a lot of sharing at home, and their different perspectives have given them an edge in their jobs.

"He's very supportive, I learn a lot from him," Julia Fox says. Her husband says the same of her. And both say they feel that Harvard is their home.

"A lot of our friends are here," Julia Fox says. "It's been part of our lives and it is our community."

Honeymoon in Greenough

Sarah B. Drummond and Daniel B. Drummond '91 met, married, live and work at Harvard.

They made their first Harvard connection when he was an admissions officer and non-resident first-year adviser. At the time, she was a divinity school student and a proctor for his advisees in Greenough.

"She told me I had a nice smile," Dan Drummond says, teasing about knowing when not to miss an opportunity. Together, they tell the story of their first date, to a football game in which a joint advisee played.

Two years later, they were married in a ceremony at Harvard's Memorial Church followed by a celebration at the Faculty Club. They spent their first year of marriage living in the basement of Greenough.

"How romantic," they say, laughing.

Now, Sarah Drummond serves as an assistant dean of freshmen and associate minister (check) at Memorial Church, and Dan Drummond has continued with the admissions office.

"It's a really interesting combination," Sarah Drummond says. "Dan...is dealing with students in their last year of high school, and I deal with them in their first year of college. It's amazing...how much our roles are intertwined."

The Drummonds don't often work directly with each other, but Sarah Drummond shares a special memory of a recent collaboration.

"We were in a small meeting together, talking about a program Dan was running," she says. "I remember looking up and thinking, 'He's really smart. He's really good at what he does. I'm so lucky to have married him.'"

Even though the only other member of their family is their cat, Samson, the Drummonds say they sometimes feel like Harvard parents. Both keep in regular contact with many of their former proctees and advisees.

While they do not know where their career paths will lead, or how long they will remain at the college, the couple agrees that Harvard will always have special significance for them.

"In some ways the Harvard tie is always going to be with us...the relationships are never going to disappear," Dan Drummond says. "If and when we decide to leave, I'm sure we'll take Harvard with us."