Summers On Mag’s ‘Worst’ List

What do Larry Summers, Gap CEO Paul Pressler, and personal computer mogul Michael Dell all have in common?

Pressler may be better dressed, and Dell, with a net worth estimated at $17.1 billion, is a whole lot wealthier than the former Harvard president. But all three men have made BusinessWeek magazine’s “worst of” 2006 list.

In its current issue, the weekly says Summers, who jumped from Treasury secretary in the Clinton White House to the top job at Mass. Hall, is the “worst crossover” of the year.

Dell, whose firm’s stock tumbled in the face of mounting competition from rival PC-makers, had the “worst reaction time,” and Pressler, who has seen 10 of his top executives leave the clothier, is the “worst talent manager.”

Summers’ most recent categorization is in stark contrast to his 2005 title as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, as ranked by TIME Magazine.

Weatherhead Professor of Business Administration D. Quinn Mills, who lectures on leadership at the Business School, wrote in an e-mail that BusinessWeek did not have the “right to characterize President Summers as the worst cross-over.”

“I don’t think his style was different in the two situations,” Mills wrote yesterday of Summers’ political and academic roles.

“There are many people who think President Summers was trying to provide good leadership, but that Harvard’s faculty would not accept it,” Mills added.

During his tenure as University president, Summers made headlines for his often conflictive relationship with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and for his now-infamous remarks about the intrinsic aptitude of women in science. Summers announced his resignation in February, days before the Faculty was set to vote on a second no-confidence motion. Summers lost the first 218-185.

An outspoken critic of Summers and the sponsor of the second no-confidence vote, Weary Professor of German and Comparative Literature Judith L. Ryan, wrote in an e-mail that she was not surprised by BusinessWeek’s ranking.

“Leadership, in the sense of being persuasive enough to motivate others to get ‘on board,’” wrote Ryan, “requires patience and a good understanding of human psychology.”

While Summers was named “worst crossover,” the current secretary of the Treasury nabbed the title of “best crossover.” Henry M. Paulson left his job as CEO of Goldman Sachs last spring to take the cabinet-level post.

Summers did not return requests for comment yesterday.

—Staff writer Madeline W. Lissner can be reached at mlissner@fas.harvard.edu.