Spence Introduced as Dean

Ending nine months of rumor and speculation, President Bok formally announced yesterday that on July 1 Chairman of the Economics Department A. Michael Spence will move into University Hall and take over as dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS).

"The opportunity to serve [as dean] is certainly the most exciting and challenging event in my professional life," the 40-year-old specialist in industrial relations said at an afternoon press conference with Bok at Massachusetts Hall.

In the past decade, Spence's work has earned him an international reputation for excellence, said colleagues, some of whom speculated that he might have soon been in line for a Nobel Prize.

But Spence said, "To make a great institution continue to be great just appealed to me so much that I have relatively little difficulty deciding that I ought to do it."

He will officially take over his new duties at the end of the current academic year, when Henry Rosovsky steps down after 11 years to return to full-time teaching and research of Japanese economics.

Unusual

Bok called Spence "a very unusual person. He is someone who has really excelled at an extraordinarily high level at anything he's ever attempted."

The president cited the new dean's modesty and teaching ability, and he said that Spence had impressed him as someone who was not limited to a single academic discipline, but was interested in many different fields.

"I think it's very important that the dean be somebody who is respected by the Faculty as someone who is very good at the kinds of things the Faculty quite properly holds dear," said Bok.

Spence's appointment comes after reports that he was actually Bok's second choice after someone else turned down the job. Bok, in an interview before the formal announcement, refused to comment on the speculation.

Spence is the third straight economist appointed to fill what is generally considered to be Harvard's second most important academic post, succeeding Rosovsky and Lamont University Professor John T. Dunlop. There had been widespread Faculty speculation that Bok might appoint the first scientist ever in fill the post, but said in the end the decision came was best qualified for the job.

"I think that Mike would agree that be is being appointed not because to is an economist but if anything in spite of the fact that he is an economist," said Bok.

Chairman of the Chemistry Departures Richard H. Holm said yesterday." All things being equal, it's about time the FAS and someone from the sciences, but the present dean has had a very good chemistry with the sciences."

Spence will learn the ins and outs of his new job by meeting regularly with his predecessor over the next few months. Rosovsky said he would review all the departments, appointment procedures, the budget, and the problems of graduate and undergraduate education with Spence.

"I'm just going to give him a suspired in deaning," said Rosovsky.

At yesterday's press conference, Spence discussed some of the main issues he will confront in his new job, including sexual harassment, curriculum, minority representation, and computerization.

One of the most watched issues on campus this fall has been sexual harassment. A widely circulated campus survey on the subject revealed higher than expected rates of incidence of harassment.

Head On

Spence confronted the issue head on and said he would scrutinize it carefully over the coming months. He said the first priority for dealing with the issue was forming "some relatively specific guidelines with respect to behavior and make some process for dealing with the issue."

"It doesn't seem to me that it has been blown out of proportion. It raises an important set of issues," added Spence.

The new dean called the problem of minority underrepresentation on the Faculty a difficult and troubling issue, but he did not advocate any change of policy. He said that Harvard just had to "stay in the game" and keep trying to recruit qualified minorities, minorities.

One of the most complicated issues Spence will face in the next few years is how to use computers at all levels of instruction, research, and administration.

Central to the computerization riddle is what kind of equipment to buy. There are many different systems available on the market, but most of them are incompatible and the dean will face the problem of how to choose the one or ones that best suits the needs of the largest segment of the University.

Recently, some colleges and universities

Junior Faculty

Spence's selection comes after a 10-month search which Bok conducted almost entirely in private.

Bok said he offered Spence the job about two weeks age. The new dean said he accepted it a create of days later.

Imaginative

Associate Professor of Business Administrators Michal E. Porter, who has worked closely with Spence for a number of years on academic and administrative projects, called his appointment an imaginative one which will be respected in the College and in the graduate schools, especially the Business school, where he who hold here on Crand Professor of Economics and Business Administration.

"I do have some mixed feelings about this appointment however," Porter added. "I think there are other people around who could be the dean, but I'm not sure there are other people who could do the kind of research Mike does."

Rosovsky, too, had only high praise for a man who was one of his graduate students when he first came to Harvard in the late 1960s. The current dean said his main advice for his successor was to ready for the unexpected, and said that in one of their first meetings after Spence accepted the job he had passed along a piece of advice he had received when he first became dean.

Rosovsky said that Nobel laureate James Weston once told him." "You know the difference between a good dean and a bad dean is that a good one listens to gossip. By that he didn't mean gossip in the silly way, now I do and I think it's a good piece of advice."

"You have to keep your ears open to hear what the Faculty and students are thinking," he explained.

Biography

Throughout his professional career Spence has distinguished himself by the depth and breadth of his accomplishments.

He was born in Montclair, N.J. and grew up in Toronto, where his father was a university professor. He played varsity hockey and majored in philosophy at Princeton, where he graduated summa cum laude in 1964, picking up the honors thesis prize on the way out.

For the next three years, he was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, where he received a master's degree in mathematics. From England, he received to Harvard, where he was a teaching fellow at the Kennedy School of Government, studied economics, and won the Wells Prize for the best doctoral dissertation in 1972.

For the next three years, he was an associate professor of economics at Stanford before returning to Harvard in 1975. He was tenured in 1977, and the next year he won the Galbraith Award as best teacher in the Economics Department.

In 1981, Spence won the John Clark Bates Medal, which is awarded biannually to the best economist in the nation under 40. He is best known for his work on industrial behavior and developing industries.

Last June, he began a three-year term as chairman of the Economics Department.

Spence lives in Cambridge, is married, and has two children

"I think that Mike would agree that be is being appointed not because to is an economist but if anything in spite of the fact that he is an economist," said Bok.

Chairman of the Chemistry Departures Richard H. Holm said yesterday." All things being equal, it's about time the FAS and someone from the sciences, but the present dean has had a very good chemistry with the sciences."

Spence will learn the ins and outs of his new job by meeting regularly with his predecessor over the next few months. Rosovsky said he would review all the departments, appointment procedures, the budget, and the problems of graduate and undergraduate education with Spence.

"I'm just going to give him a suspired in deaning," said Rosovsky.

At yesterday's press conference, Spence discussed some of the main issues he will confront in his new job, including sexual harassment, curriculum, minority representation, and computerization.

One of the most watched issues on campus this fall has been sexual harassment. A widely circulated campus survey on the subject revealed higher than expected rates of incidence of harassment.

Head On

Spence confronted the issue head on and said he would scrutinize it carefully over the coming months. He said the first priority for dealing with the issue was forming "some relatively specific guidelines with respect to behavior and make some process for dealing with the issue."

"It doesn't seem to me that it has been blown out of proportion. It raises an important set of issues," added Spence.

The new dean called the problem of minority underrepresentation on the Faculty a difficult and troubling issue, but he did not advocate any change of policy. He said that Harvard just had to "stay in the game" and keep trying to recruit qualified minorities, minorities.

One of the most complicated issues Spence will face in the next few years is how to use computers at all levels of instruction, research, and administration.

Central to the computerization riddle is what kind of equipment to buy. There are many different systems available on the market, but most of them are incompatible and the dean will face the problem of how to choose the one or ones that best suits the needs of the largest segment of the University.

Recently, some colleges and universities

Junior Faculty

Spence's selection comes after a 10-month search which Bok conducted almost entirely in private.

Bok said he offered Spence the job about two weeks age. The new dean said he accepted it a create of days later.

Imaginative

Associate Professor of Business Administrators Michal E. Porter, who has worked closely with Spence for a number of years on academic and administrative projects, called his appointment an imaginative one which will be respected in the College and in the graduate schools, especially the Business school, where he who hold here on Crand Professor of Economics and Business Administration.

"I do have some mixed feelings about this appointment however," Porter added. "I think there are other people around who could be the dean, but I'm not sure there are other people who could do the kind of research Mike does."

Rosovsky, too, had only high praise for a man who was one of his graduate students when he first came to Harvard in the late 1960s. The current dean said his main advice for his successor was to ready for the unexpected, and said that in one of their first meetings after Spence accepted the job he had passed along a piece of advice he had received when he first became dean.

Rosovsky said that Nobel laureate James Weston once told him." "You know the difference between a good dean and a bad dean is that a good one listens to gossip. By that he didn't mean gossip in the silly way, now I do and I think it's a good piece of advice."

"You have to keep your ears open to hear what the Faculty and students are thinking," he explained.

Biography

Throughout his professional career Spence has distinguished himself by the depth and breadth of his accomplishments.

He was born in Montclair, N.J. and grew up in Toronto, where his father was a university professor. He played varsity hockey and majored in philosophy at Princeton, where he graduated summa cum laude in 1964, picking up the honors thesis prize on the way out.

For the next three years, he was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, where he received a master's degree in mathematics. From England, he received to Harvard, where he was a teaching fellow at the Kennedy School of Government, studied economics, and won the Wells Prize for the best doctoral dissertation in 1972.

For the next three years, he was an associate professor of economics at Stanford before returning to Harvard in 1975. He was tenured in 1977, and the next year he won the Galbraith Award as best teacher in the Economics Department.

In 1981, Spence won the John Clark Bates Medal, which is awarded biannually to the best economist in the nation under 40. He is best known for his work on industrial behavior and developing industries.

Last June, he began a three-year term as chairman of the Economics Department.

Spence lives in Cambridge, is married, and has two children

Junior Faculty

Spence's selection comes after a 10-month search which Bok conducted almost entirely in private.

Bok said he offered Spence the job about two weeks age. The new dean said he accepted it a create of days later.

Imaginative

Associate Professor of Business Administrators Michal E. Porter, who has worked closely with Spence for a number of years on academic and administrative projects, called his appointment an imaginative one which will be respected in the College and in the graduate schools, especially the Business school, where he who hold here on Crand Professor of Economics and Business Administration.

"I do have some mixed feelings about this appointment however," Porter added. "I think there are other people around who could be the dean, but I'm not sure there are other people who could do the kind of research Mike does."

Rosovsky, too, had only high praise for a man who was one of his graduate students when he first came to Harvard in the late 1960s. The current dean said his main advice for his successor was to ready for the unexpected, and said that in one of their first meetings after Spence accepted the job he had passed along a piece of advice he had received when he first became dean.

Rosovsky said that Nobel laureate James Weston once told him." "You know the difference between a good dean and a bad dean is that a good one listens to gossip. By that he didn't mean gossip in the silly way, now I do and I think it's a good piece of advice."

"You have to keep your ears open to hear what the Faculty and students are thinking," he explained.

Biography

Throughout his professional career Spence has distinguished himself by the depth and breadth of his accomplishments.

He was born in Montclair, N.J. and grew up in Toronto, where his father was a university professor. He played varsity hockey and majored in philosophy at Princeton, where he graduated summa cum laude in 1964, picking up the honors thesis prize on the way out.

For the next three years, he was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, where he received a master's degree in mathematics. From England, he received to Harvard, where he was a teaching fellow at the Kennedy School of Government, studied economics, and won the Wells Prize for the best doctoral dissertation in 1972.

For the next three years, he was an associate professor of economics at Stanford before returning to Harvard in 1975. He was tenured in 1977, and the next year he won the Galbraith Award as best teacher in the Economics Department.

In 1981, Spence won the John Clark Bates Medal, which is awarded biannually to the best economist in the nation under 40. He is best known for his work on industrial behavior and developing industries.

Last June, he began a three-year term as chairman of the Economics Department.

Spence lives in Cambridge, is married, and has two children

Junior Faculty

Spence's selection comes after a 10-month search which Bok conducted almost entirely in private.

Bok said he offered Spence the job about two weeks age. The new dean said he accepted it a create of days later.

Imaginative

Associate Professor of Business Administrators Michal E. Porter, who has worked closely with Spence for a number of years on academic and administrative projects, called his appointment an imaginative one which will be respected in the College and in the graduate schools, especially the Business school, where he who hold here on Crand Professor of Economics and Business Administration.

"I do have some mixed feelings about this appointment however," Porter added. "I think there are other people around who could be the dean, but I'm not sure there are other people who could do the kind of research Mike does."

Rosovsky, too, had only high praise for a man who was one of his graduate students when he first came to Harvard in the late 1960s. The current dean said his main advice for his successor was to ready for the unexpected, and said that in one of their first meetings after Spence accepted the job he had passed along a piece of advice he had received when he first became dean.

Rosovsky said that Nobel laureate James Weston once told him." "You know the difference between a good dean and a bad dean is that a good one listens to gossip. By that he didn't mean gossip in the silly way, now I do and I think it's a good piece of advice."

"You have to keep your ears open to hear what the Faculty and students are thinking," he explained.

Biography

Throughout his professional career Spence has distinguished himself by the depth and breadth of his accomplishments.

He was born in Montclair, N.J. and grew up in Toronto, where his father was a university professor. He played varsity hockey and majored in philosophy at Princeton, where he graduated summa cum laude in 1964, picking up the honors thesis prize on the way out.

For the next three years, he was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, where he received a master's degree in mathematics. From England, he received to Harvard, where he was a teaching fellow at the Kennedy School of Government, studied economics, and won the Wells Prize for the best doctoral dissertation in 1972.

For the next three years, he was an associate professor of economics at Stanford before returning to Harvard in 1975. He was tenured in 1977, and the next year he won the Galbraith Award as best teacher in the Economics Department.

In 1981, Spence won the John Clark Bates Medal, which is awarded biannually to the best economist in the nation under 40. He is best known for his work on industrial behavior and developing industries.

Last June, he began a three-year term as chairman of the Economics Department.

Spence lives in Cambridge, is married, and has two children

Spence's selection comes after a 10-month search which Bok conducted almost entirely in private.

Bok said he offered Spence the job about two weeks age. The new dean said he accepted it a create of days later.

Imaginative

Associate Professor of Business Administrators Michal E. Porter, who has worked closely with Spence for a number of years on academic and administrative projects, called his appointment an imaginative one which will be respected in the College and in the graduate schools, especially the Business school, where he who hold here on Crand Professor of Economics and Business Administration.

"I do have some mixed feelings about this appointment however," Porter added. "I think there are other people around who could be the dean, but I'm not sure there are other people who could do the kind of research Mike does."

Rosovsky, too, had only high praise for a man who was one of his graduate students when he first came to Harvard in the late 1960s. The current dean said his main advice for his successor was to ready for the unexpected, and said that in one of their first meetings after Spence accepted the job he had passed along a piece of advice he had received when he first became dean.

Rosovsky said that Nobel laureate James Weston once told him." "You know the difference between a good dean and a bad dean is that a good one listens to gossip. By that he didn't mean gossip in the silly way, now I do and I think it's a good piece of advice."

"You have to keep your ears open to hear what the Faculty and students are thinking," he explained.

Biography

Throughout his professional career Spence has distinguished himself by the depth and breadth of his accomplishments.

He was born in Montclair, N.J. and grew up in Toronto, where his father was a university professor. He played varsity hockey and majored in philosophy at Princeton, where he graduated summa cum laude in 1964, picking up the honors thesis prize on the way out.

For the next three years, he was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, where he received a master's degree in mathematics. From England, he received to Harvard, where he was a teaching fellow at the Kennedy School of Government, studied economics, and won the Wells Prize for the best doctoral dissertation in 1972.

For the next three years, he was an associate professor of economics at Stanford before returning to Harvard in 1975. He was tenured in 1977, and the next year he won the Galbraith Award as best teacher in the Economics Department.

In 1981, Spence won the John Clark Bates Medal, which is awarded biannually to the best economist in the nation under 40. He is best known for his work on industrial behavior and developing industries.

Last June, he began a three-year term as chairman of the Economics Department.

Spence lives in Cambridge, is married, and has two children

Bok said he offered Spence the job about two weeks age. The new dean said he accepted it a create of days later.

Imaginative

Associate Professor of Business Administrators Michal E. Porter, who has worked closely with Spence for a number of years on academic and administrative projects, called his appointment an imaginative one which will be respected in the College and in the graduate schools, especially the Business school, where he who hold here on Crand Professor of Economics and Business Administration.

"I do have some mixed feelings about this appointment however," Porter added. "I think there are other people around who could be the dean, but I'm not sure there are other people who could do the kind of research Mike does."

Rosovsky, too, had only high praise for a man who was one of his graduate students when he first came to Harvard in the late 1960s. The current dean said his main advice for his successor was to ready for the unexpected, and said that in one of their first meetings after Spence accepted the job he had passed along a piece of advice he had received when he first became dean.

Rosovsky said that Nobel laureate James Weston once told him." "You know the difference between a good dean and a bad dean is that a good one listens to gossip. By that he didn't mean gossip in the silly way, now I do and I think it's a good piece of advice."

"You have to keep your ears open to hear what the Faculty and students are thinking," he explained.

Biography

Throughout his professional career Spence has distinguished himself by the depth and breadth of his accomplishments.

He was born in Montclair, N.J. and grew up in Toronto, where his father was a university professor. He played varsity hockey and majored in philosophy at Princeton, where he graduated summa cum laude in 1964, picking up the honors thesis prize on the way out.

For the next three years, he was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, where he received a master's degree in mathematics. From England, he received to Harvard, where he was a teaching fellow at the Kennedy School of Government, studied economics, and won the Wells Prize for the best doctoral dissertation in 1972.

For the next three years, he was an associate professor of economics at Stanford before returning to Harvard in 1975. He was tenured in 1977, and the next year he won the Galbraith Award as best teacher in the Economics Department.

In 1981, Spence won the John Clark Bates Medal, which is awarded biannually to the best economist in the nation under 40. He is best known for his work on industrial behavior and developing industries.

Last June, he began a three-year term as chairman of the Economics Department.

Spence lives in Cambridge, is married, and has two children

Bok said he offered Spence the job about two weeks age. The new dean said he accepted it a create of days later.

Imaginative

Associate Professor of Business Administrators Michal E. Porter, who has worked closely with Spence for a number of years on academic and administrative projects, called his appointment an imaginative one which will be respected in the College and in the graduate schools, especially the Business school, where he who hold here on Crand Professor of Economics and Business Administration.

"I do have some mixed feelings about this appointment however," Porter added. "I think there are other people around who could be the dean, but I'm not sure there are other people who could do the kind of research Mike does."

Rosovsky, too, had only high praise for a man who was one of his graduate students when he first came to Harvard in the late 1960s. The current dean said his main advice for his successor was to ready for the unexpected, and said that in one of their first meetings after Spence accepted the job he had passed along a piece of advice he had received when he first became dean.

Rosovsky said that Nobel laureate James Weston once told him." "You know the difference between a good dean and a bad dean is that a good one listens to gossip. By that he didn't mean gossip in the silly way, now I do and I think it's a good piece of advice."

"You have to keep your ears open to hear what the Faculty and students are thinking," he explained.

Biography

Throughout his professional career Spence has distinguished himself by the depth and breadth of his accomplishments.

He was born in Montclair, N.J. and grew up in Toronto, where his father was a university professor. He played varsity hockey and majored in philosophy at Princeton, where he graduated summa cum laude in 1964, picking up the honors thesis prize on the way out.

For the next three years, he was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, where he received a master's degree in mathematics. From England, he received to Harvard, where he was a teaching fellow at the Kennedy School of Government, studied economics, and won the Wells Prize for the best doctoral dissertation in 1972.

For the next three years, he was an associate professor of economics at Stanford before returning to Harvard in 1975. He was tenured in 1977, and the next year he won the Galbraith Award as best teacher in the Economics Department.

In 1981, Spence won the John Clark Bates Medal, which is awarded biannually to the best economist in the nation under 40. He is best known for his work on industrial behavior and developing industries.

Last June, he began a three-year term as chairman of the Economics Department.

Spence lives in Cambridge, is married, and has two children

Bok said he offered Spence the job about two weeks age. The new dean said he accepted it a create of days later.

Imaginative

Associate Professor of Business Administrators Michal E. Porter, who has worked closely with Spence for a number of years on academic and administrative projects, called his appointment an imaginative one which will be respected in the College and in the graduate schools, especially the Business school, where he who hold here on Crand Professor of Economics and Business Administration.

"I do have some mixed feelings about this appointment however," Porter added. "I think there are other people around who could be the dean, but I'm not sure there are other people who could do the kind of research Mike does."

Rosovsky, too, had only high praise for a man who was one of his graduate students when he first came to Harvard in the late 1960s. The current dean said his main advice for his successor was to ready for the unexpected, and said that in one of their first meetings after Spence accepted the job he had passed along a piece of advice he had received when he first became dean.

Rosovsky said that Nobel laureate James Weston once told him." "You know the difference between a good dean and a bad dean is that a good one listens to gossip. By that he didn't mean gossip in the silly way, now I do and I think it's a good piece of advice."

"You have to keep your ears open to hear what the Faculty and students are thinking," he explained.

Biography

Throughout his professional career Spence has distinguished himself by the depth and breadth of his accomplishments.

He was born in Montclair, N.J. and grew up in Toronto, where his father was a university professor. He played varsity hockey and majored in philosophy at Princeton, where he graduated summa cum laude in 1964, picking up the honors thesis prize on the way out.

For the next three years, he was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, where he received a master's degree in mathematics. From England, he received to Harvard, where he was a teaching fellow at the Kennedy School of Government, studied economics, and won the Wells Prize for the best doctoral dissertation in 1972.

For the next three years, he was an associate professor of economics at Stanford before returning to Harvard in 1975. He was tenured in 1977, and the next year he won the Galbraith Award as best teacher in the Economics Department.

In 1981, Spence won the John Clark Bates Medal, which is awarded biannually to the best economist in the nation under 40. He is best known for his work on industrial behavior and developing industries.

Last June, he began a three-year term as chairman of the Economics Department.

Spence lives in Cambridge, is married, and has two children