Acting Dean Promoted To Lead B-School

Jay O. Light, who has served as acting dean of Harvard Business School since last August, was appointed the school’s permanent chief yesterday.

Faculty members expressed broad support for Light, a 64-year-old expert in finance and investment management who has spent more than half his life at the Business School.

When University President Lawrence H. Summers informed the school’s faculty of Light’s appointment at a closed-door meeting yesterday afternoon, the professors immediately rose for a standing ovation, according to Professor of Management Practice Arthur I. Segel ’73.

“He’s been there a long time and knows the school better than anyone. He’s brilliant, he’s humble, and he has extremely good communication skills,” Segel said of Light. “And—this is really important—he’s an extremely good listener.”

Light said at a press conference announcing his appointment yesterday afternoon that he expects his tenure to follow a similar path to that of his predecessor, Kim B. Clark ’74, who resigned his post last summer after 10 years at the helm to assume the presidency of Brigham Young University-Idaho.

“I think there are going to be more similarities than differences,” Light said.

Light, who is the Robinson professor of business administration, served as senior associate dean and director of planning and development under Clark.

Summers said at the press conference that Light “embodies what is best about the Harvard Business School.”

During Light’s nine-month term as the Business School’s acting dean, he oversaw the completion of a $600 million capital campaign, renovations of the campus, and the inauguration of its fifth international research center—in Mumbai, India. He also terminated the school’s grade non-disclosure policy.

C.D. “Dick” Spangler Jr., the entrepreneur and donor who chaired the capital campaign, said that Light “will preserve [the school’s] strengths.”

With today’s announcement, Summers has appointed seven major deans during his five-year tenure—more than either of his two immediate predecessors did in their first half-decades.

Summers said at the press conference that he had discussed Light’s appointment with the Harvard Corporation—the University’s highest governing body—and incoming Interim President Derek C. Bok, who will take the reins of the University after Summers leaves the presidency June 30. Summers did not indicate the extent of Bok’s involvement in the decision-making process, but he did say that Light and Bok had also spoken before the announcement.

“The judgment that we reached collectively was that, since I had been extensively engaged in a search process and had a large number of conversations with members of the Business School community, that it would be best for me to complete the search,” Summers said.

When asked if he will also appoint a dean for the Graduate School of Education, which has been without a permanent dean since last spring, Summers firmly said, “Yes.” Then he quickly added, “I expect the process will be similar.”

Almost all Business School professors were kept in the dark about Summers’ decision until shortly before the outgoing president announced his pick to the media.

Members of the faculty committee that advised Summers on the dean selection were informed of the decision at a meeting that began an hour prior to the press conference, and just half an hour before the meeting of the entire faculty.

Following his meeting with the press, Summers spoke with the alumni search committee via conference call.

The alumni expressed a “unanimous feeling” of gratitude to Summers for his decision, according to Spangler, who is also a former president of the University’s Board of Overseers.

Baker Foundation Professor F. Warren McFarlan ’59, who served on the 15-member faculty advisory committee, said that Light had been “an overwhelming favorite” during the search process, especially among alumni.

“I had people hammering at me for the past four or five months about his being the right person,” McFarlan said.

Light said he was unsure of how long he will remain at the helm.

Prior to joining the Business School faculty in 1970, Light earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering physics from Cornell University and worked in satellite guidance and systems planning at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

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

—Staff writer Daniel J. T. Schuker can be reached at dschuker@fas.harvard.edu.