K-School Dean Resigns After a Rough Two Years

When Robert D. Putnam took the helm of the Kennedy School of Government in 1989, he was heralded as an able academic who would lead the institution into the next decade.

But after two years as dean of the school, colleagues say, Putnam learned that the job was more than he bargained for. The Government Department professor spent so much time and energy grappling with the school's financial difficulties and managing tensions within the Faculty that he did not have enough left for what he loved most--teaching and research.

When Putnam announced his decision to resign last month, many inside the University were nevertheless surprised. Few suspected that the institution's problems ran so deep.

Progress and Problems

Putnam's unusually short term makes it difficult to judge what impact, if any, he has had on the Kennedy School, but faculty members say that he was able to nudge the school in a new direction and accomplish many of his objectives.

In particular, officials say Putnam worked to put more emphasis on ethics and politics in the curriculum and create a more diverse and interesting student body. In addition, they point out that the dean successfully began the process of "internationalizing" the Kennedy School, building programs in countries such as Italy, Germany and Israel.

But professors and administrators say Putnam's biggest and most time-consuming problem during those years was guiding the school through difficult financial straits.

"One of the things he liked to say was that he didn't expect to spend a year and a half learning to be an accountant," says Executive Dean Richard E. Cavanagh.

At the heart of the Kennedy School's financial woes was the unexpectedly high price of the luxurious five-story A. Alfred Taubman Building, completed this fall.

The philantrhopist pledged $15 million to the entire project--a big gift even by Harvard standards--but University officials say the cost of the building alone was almost double that amount.

The construction company says it cost nearly $20 million just to build the center and Vice President for Finance Robert H. Scott estimated the building's total cost at a whopping $26 million.

"We built a bigger building than we originally planned," says Scott. Some observers say the lavishly-furnished building is so extravagant that it may border on waste.

The Kennedy School is currently negotiating with the central administration for help in financing the Taubman Building, but its unanticipated cost has already complicated the school's finances.

"A school has to generate more revenue to help take care of that problem as well as other problems," says Hale Champion, a lecturer in public policy and former executive dean at the Kennedy School."