Ford Is Named Acting Faculty Dean; Brooks to Handle Legislative Duties

Franklin L. Ford, McLean Professor of Ancient and Modern History, is the new acting dean of the Faculty.

President Bok announced yesterday that Ford will fill the position vacated last month by John T. Dunlop until a permanent dean is selected.

Bok also announced that Harvey Brooks, dean of Engineering and Applied Physics, will temporarily assume the responsibilities of the deanship regarding Faculty legislation.

Bok said yesterday he hopes to have a permanent dean selected by late March, but explained that the process may take as long as three months.

Ford served as dean from 1962 to 1969, resigning in the wake of the 1969 University Hall occupation and bust. Bok said Ford is not a candidate for permanent dean, although he would not rule out Brooks.

He explained, however, that he asked both men to serve on an interim basis. He said they were his first choices to fill the vacuum left by Dunlop's departure.

"Both men are good soldiers I selected because of their instant capacity to do the job," Bok said.

The responsibilities of the position will be "genuinely divided" between the two men even though Brooks will retain his old title, he added.

Bok explained that Brooks had served as Dunlop's "right-hand man" regarding Faculty Council relations and the preparation of legislation for the Faculty and was therefore well suited for this aspect of the deanship.

Brooks will chair Faculty Council meetings as part of his expanded duties. He will also work with the Council's various subcommittees, including the Committee on Graduate Education.

Bok said that because of Ford's extended tenure as dean, he is the only man who understands the complex administrative responsibilities of the position.

The dean of the Faculty has charge of about 40 separate budgets. About half of these are departmental budgets, and the rest are those of related institutions, such as the Arnold Arboretum and Dumbarton Oaks.

Although Dunlop had completed most of the budgetary work for the next year and will return to Cambridge on weekends to ease the transition process, the job still requires a great deal of time and understanding, Bok said.

Permanent Selection

Bok said he is proceeding with the selection of a permanent dean. "Within the next few weeks, I plan to put my own preferences out of mind and talk to the Faculty Council, individual Faculty members and other interested person," he said.

Bok said he will solicit recommendations and advice from about 50 people in the next several weeks, and then start the actual selection process.

The permanent dean is expected to serve from six to eight years, Bok said. He will probably also have to give up most of his teaching and scholarship, he added.

Bok said last month that the new dean will come from Faculty or Administration ranks, noting that those already within the University have an advantage in the experience needed to fill the position.

Bok said he had decided against appointing a provost, an idea he had first advanced when he became President.

He explained that the central responsibility of provosts at other universities is to coordinate the allocation of financial resources among various departments and faculties.

"Because faculties at Harvard are financially independent of each other--Each Tub on Its Own Bottom--that function does not need to be performed here," he explained.

Bok added that the deans of the various faculties here would prefer to deal directly with him and not through an intermediary, and that he did not want to add an unnecessary bureaucratic position in the administrative apparatus.

"We should not be any more top-heavy than we have to be," he said