Top Public Minds Honored

Harvard can only claim one representative—Nobel laureate and Lamont University Professor Amartya Sen—among the world’s top 10 public intellectuals, according to Foreign Policy (FP) and Prospect magazines.

This sparse showing comes after Harvard was a dominant presence in a list of the top 100 public intellectuals that the two magazines released in late September. Ten University affiliates were included in that group—the most of any institution worldwide.

The final rankings, released last week, were determined by an online vote in which the public was able to rank their top five preferences from the list of 100. Following this winnowing, most Harvard professors who were initially included found themselves between the 20th and 50th rankings.

Noam Chomsky, professor of linguistics at MIT, received the highest number of votes, with more than 4,800 out of a total of more than 20,000.

The original list featured a range of Harvard notables, including University President Lawrence H. Summers, who placed 60th in the final ranking.

Only Sen, who was ranked eighth, landed a spot in the top 10.

Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology Steven Pinker, Weatherhead University Professor Samuel P. Huntington, biologist E. O. Wilson, who is Pellegrino University professor, emeritus, and Carr Center for Human Rights Director Michael Ignatieff were Harvard’s other representatives in the top 50, coming in 26th, 28th, 31st, and 37th places, respectively.

Chair of the Department of African and African American Studies Henry Louis “Skip” Gates, Jr., Malkin Professor of Public Policy Robert D. Putnam, and Cabot Professor of Aesthetics and the General Theory of Value Elaine Scarry placed 57th, 77th, and 92nd, respectively.

Most professors seemed unfazed by the outcome, unsure of the significance and import of the list.

When asked about his reaction to his new title as the world’s top public intellectual, Chomsky replied in an e-mail that he was “underwhelmed.”

“I don’t think it means much,” he wrote.

Sen said that he was astonished but did not know what importance to attach to the results. He said was surprised, however, to see so few Harvard names high up on the list.

“Oh my god, I’m humbled,” Sen said, upon learning that he was the only affiliate in the top 10. “I feel there’s some injustice there, since we [are] chock-full of people at Harvard, and I’m surprised that more of them are not here.”

Harvard still fared better than other institutions and countries—even whole continents.

“Perhaps Harvard students didn’t vote,” said William J. Dobson, managing editor of FP. “I mean, Harvard did better than Europe, so in some respects I don’t feel badly for Harvard.”

Although voters were self-selected, politics and controversy might also have fueled some of their decisions.

“There were very few people from the left on the top 100, which may offer an explanation for why [Chomsky] came out on top—there weren’t many other candidates of his ilk to divide the vote,” Dobson said. “But that’s just purely speculation.”

Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education Howard E. Gardner, who finished 70th, said he thought the final list was reasonable.

“The one insight I have is that these ten people are not only the best known but in most cases very controversial—Chomsky, [New York Times columnist Paul] Krugman, [British journalist Christopher] Hitchens for example raise the political temperature to the boiling point,” Gardner wrote in an e-mail. “Harvard professors (including me) are usually less well [known] and at least some of us are much less controversial.”

Although some intellectuals said they were ambivalent toward the list, others were involved in the voting process. In Prospect’s announcement of the results, the magazine mentioned that some intellectuals linked to the voting page from their personal websites.

—Staff writer Lulu Zhou can be reached at luluzhou@fas.harvard.edu.



CREAM OF THE CROP

The world’s top 10 public intellectuals, chosen by voters in an online poll, with the number of votes received in parentheses.



#1: Noam Chomsky (4,827)

#2: Umberto Eco (2,464)

#3: Richard Dawkins (2,188)

#4: Vaclav Havel (1,990)

#5: Christopher Hitchens (1,844)

#6: Paul Krugman (1,746)

#7: Jurgen Habermas (1,639)

#8: Amartya Sen (1,590)

#9: Jared Diamond (1,499)

#10: Salman Rushdie (1,468)



Harvard’s BEST

Harvard had 10 names on a list of top public intellectuals chosen by Foreign Policy and Prospect magazines, with the number of votes received in the online poll in parentheses.



#8: Amartya Sen (1,590)

#26: Steven Pinker (812)

#28: Samuel Huntington (805)

#31: E. O. Wilson (742)

#37: Michael Ignatieff (610)

#57: Henry Louis Gates Jr. (379)

#60: Lawrence H. Summers (351)

#70: Howard E. Gardner (273)

#77: Robert D. Putnam (221)

#92: Elaine Scarry (87)