People in the News

A Trio of University Professors

Three members of Harvard's faculties have been appointed to prestigious University Professorships, entitling them to teach across departmental and school boundaries. Robert C. Merton, who was Baker professor of business administration, becomes the John and Natty McArthur University Professor, filling a new chair honoring the former dean of the Business School and his wife. Merton was a co-recipient of the most recent Nobel Prize in economic sciences for his work on options pricing ("Brevia," November-December 1997, page 72). Cornel West '74, professor of the philosophy of religion (Divinity School) and of Afro-American Studies (Arts and Sciences), becomes the first Alphonse Fletcher Jr. University Professor; his most recent book is mentioned in Off the Shelf. Sociologist William Julius Wilson, the author most recently of When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban Poor, is now Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor. He had been Wiener professor of social policy at the Kennedy School, and also teaches in Afro-American studies. West and Wilson are the first African Americans to be named University Professors.

Back to the Outside World

James H. Rowe III '73 took the occasion of his twenty-fifth reunion week to announce that he would resign as Harvard's vice president for government, community, and public affairs. Rowe, who came to the University in 1994 from NBC's Washington, D.C., office, is returning to the capital, where he expects to represent a corporate clientele on public-affairs matters as a member of a law or public-affairs firm. "This portfolio turns over faster than the others, because you have one foot in the outside world," Rowe says. "This has been a great experience, but I never saw it as a career." He was particularly active in organizing efforts by institutions of higher education to sustain federal support for scientific research. As Harvard's senior representative to government and media, Rowe leaves feeling that the University is now "more accessible and responsive" to external constituencies.

Law and Literature

Michael W. Roberts, J.D. '79, Ph.D. '80, has found a new way to combine his diverse expertise: literature and the law. This summer, he leaves his positions as Secretary of the University and its governing boards and assistant to the president to become executive director of PEN American Center. PEN, a worldwide organization of writers and editors, fights censorship and promotes free artistic expression.

Top Teachers

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences has recognized outstanding teachers by naming the first five Harvard College Professors: Lawrence Buell, Marquand professor of English; Jorge Domínguez, Ph.D. '72, JF '72, Dillon professor of international affairs; Peter Ellison, Ph.D. '83, professor of anthropology; Eric Jacobsen, professor of chemistry; and Judith Ryan, Weary professor of German and comparative literature. Over time, the five-year appointments will be made available to as many as 24 members of the faculty, under the terms of a gift from the late John L. Loeb '24, LL.D. '71, and Frances Lehman Loeb. The recipients will, "countersuggestibly," as FAS dean Jeremy R. Knowles put it, receive extra support for their non-teaching endeavors, in the form of a semester of paid leave, commensurate summer pay, or an equivalent research fund.

Moving On

As is its custom, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at its May meeting bade farewell to members who are retiring from active teaching. Moving to emeritus or the new "research professor" status ("Brevia," March-April, page 69) are Ernst Badian, Cabot professor of history; Thomas E. Cheatham Jr., McKay professor of computer science; Donald L. Fanger, Ph.D. '62, Levin professor of literature; Patrick Hanan, Thomas professor of Chinese literature; Martin Karplus '51, Richards professor of chemistry; Yoshito Kishi, Loeb professor of chemistry; and Per Nykrog, Smith professor of the French and Spanish languages and literatures. As reported, Amartya Sen, Lamont University Professor, is departing to become Master of Trinity College, Cambridge ("Brevia," November-December 1997, page 72).