Harvard University - Red Book Yearbook (Cambridge, MA)

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CQR QRAN When President Dunster got the General Court to charter the Corporation in 1650, he created a staid tradition as well as a solid foundation for future Harvard generations. The small group of seven replaced the unwieldy and unwork- able Board of Overseers as the guiding force behind everyday University life. And in this responsibility as in its form, it has remained unchanged through three vibrant centuries. The number of officers in the group has endured intact, but the work per man has grown with the University. Re- sponsible for most financial and legal matters affecting the University, the Corporation has duties as specific as granting fellowships and as comprehensive as granting approval. It has to approve just about everything. Special appropriations for specific objectives, departmental budgets, the issuing of degrees-all await a friendly nod. Even gifts to the college have to be approved and acknowledged. Filling in the spare moments come such minor details as the determination of The Corporation meets every few weeks to plan general Universi- ty policy. They are fleyi' to rigbtj: Henry L. Shattuck, Grenville scholarships and fellowships, and the appointments of instructors. Its decisions are generally final, but for some, such as the appointment of instructors and the bestowal of degrees, the Board of Overseers has the last word. Every year the work of the Corporation has had to expand to keep pace with University activities. Formulation of general University policy has presented the President, Treasurer, and five Fellows with a complex problem to wrestle with in their bi-monthly meetings. But if larger and more involved, the policy problem is no less vital and personal to the undergraduate than it was when the eighteenth century Corporation puzzled over untidy maids and unsober students. Thus back in December 1941, the Corporation echoed the student's opinion as well as exemplified unity and precision in dedicating all University resources to the winning of the war. Thus, ever since, it has worked to make real its pledge. Clark, Henryjarnes, President Conant,jeron1e D. Greene, Charles A. Coolidge, jr., Roger I. Lee, and William H. Clafiin, Jr. f x ..... 1261- -ug

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PRESHDEN' Learning muxt he adnaneed af well ax perpetuated. Indeed, in the laft analyfif it if only hy aduaneing learning that it if poffihle to perpetuate it. When knowledge ceasef to expand and develop, it hecomes deuitalized, degraded, and a matter of little importance to the prexent or future. The community lofef intereft, and the youth of the country rexpond to other thallengef. Ahle young men enlift in an enterpriye only If they are persuaded that they, too, may eontrihute hy creative work. A zeft for intelleetual adventure Jhould he the charaeteriftic of eoery uni11er,fity. James Bryant Conant, First Annual Report, 1934 41251-

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ADMHNHSTRAT QN For the lirst time in Harvard's history, some stu- dents lasted longer than some deans. The University was dedicated whole-heartedly to the war, and that meant the top as well as the props. the deans as well as the students. The exodus was steady, the destinations varied, Of the under- graduate deans, F. Skiddy von Stade was the lirst to go. He went to the Navy. In fact, the Navy had a priority as baby deans Christopher Huntington and Richard Sullivan went on special duty in Washington. Richard F, French, Assistant Dean of the college, joined the Army. The voices of authority changed, but somebody was always on hand to tell '43 and '44 how, when, and what to do. The administrative structure still stood. Into the intricate hierarchy of deans at University Hall was woven the authority and numbers of the faculty. And neatly laced into this net- work came the officers of administration. The student was alone, snared in an irresistable web-a spiderlike web of au- thority to some, a silver web of guidance to others. Probation, marks Qin a ghoulish sensej, and trouble in all forms no less than employment aid and scholarships were the features of the typical dean's ofiice, George Henry Chase, professor of Archaeology, con- tinued as Dean of the University, and headed the administra- tive hierarchy. The social sciences provided the others of the big threezn A. Chester Hanford of the government de- partment served as Dean of the College, and Paul H. Buck, ll' --, 'W r , ,U ff'-A Pulitzer Prize winner Paul H. Buck, Historian of the South, has been Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences since last spring. A C Hanford is Colle e Dean and Professor of Government. George H. Chase, archaeologist, is Dean of the University. . . g fl27l'