News flash! The Plot Thickens
Kim Clark, dean of the Harvard Business School, has just announced his resignation. He's stepping down from the deanship to become the president of
Brigham Young University—Idaho.
Brigham Young University—Idaho? Clark is a Mormon, but still....
This is big news. Clark has been one of the last holdouts against the erosion of Harvard's famous every-tub-on-its-own-bottom (ETOB) system. A hugely respected figure, he's been able to maintain the autonomy of the business school despite Larry Summers' attempts to diminish the autonomy of Harvard deans and increase his own power.
Once Summers appoints a new dean, he will have appointed the deans of the business school, the law school, the faculty of arts and sciences, the Kennedy school, the education school, the design school, the graduate school, and the divinity school.
He has also appointed four of the six members of the Harvard Corporation, excluding himself: Robert Rubin, Robert Reischauer, James Rothenberg, and Nan Keohane.
I think it won't be long before members of the Harvard community are looking back on ETOB with fondness and a sense of loss....
Here is Kim Clark's statement:
From: Office of the Dean
Date: June 6, 2005 12:44:36 PM EDT
To:
Subject: Stepping down as Dean of Harvard Business School
Dear Colleagues and Members of the Harvard Business School Community,
I am writing to let you know that I will be stepping down as Dean of Harvard Business School on 31 July 2005, in order to accept the role of President at Brigham Young University-Idaho shortly thereafter.
This is a bittersweet moment for me. I arrived at Harvard University as an undergraduate, and it has been my home for more than 35 years. My tenure at HBS -- as a faculty member and, for the past decade, as Dean -- has been an extraordinary experience, one both professionally and personally rewarding. And I have been fortunate to serve as Dean during a period of remarkable renewal at the School.
We have launched innovative and important new initiatives, in entrepreneurship, in information technology, and in globalization, to name a few. Each of these, and many others underway at the School, enriches the classroom experience for our students and helps the faculty develop new insights with power in practice. The Leadership and Values Initiative, building on the work of our predecessors, has resulted in a full-length course in the required curriculum and a commitment to the highest standards of integrity in our community. New efforts, in health care and the sciences, will help ensure we are focused on issues of deep importance and relevance in the global arena, and will create opportunities for increased collaboration with our colleagues in the University.
At the same time, we have made certain that our core values remain strong. Our commitment to the classroom and to a transformational experience still lies at the heart of everything we do. We strive for excellence in achieving our mission.
It has been an honor and a privilege, as well as a great pleasure, to work with you. Harvard Business School is a special place. It is you -- the community of faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends -- who make it so and who, through your dedication and commitment to our mission, move the School forward. I am deeply grateful for your support and friendship these past ten years.
Best regards,
Kim B. Clark
