Computer Science Professors Face Conflict Between Commercial and University Careers

Lucrative salaries in private industry are forcing computer specialists at Harvard to make a difficult choice between huge financial boosts and academic freedom, professors of applied sciences said this week.

"Everyone here on the Faculty in computer science could triple his salary by taking a job in the computer industry." William H. Bossert, McKay Professor of Applied Sciences said, adding that Harvard has had difficulties recently in hiring professors on the junior faculty level because the salaries offered do not compare with those available in industry.

Professors said junior faculty members make $18,000 a year but could have jobs in the private sector with salaries starting at $45,000.

Although he said he could not recall any tenured faculty members in applied sciences who had left the University to go into industry. Thomas E. Cheatham, McKay Professor of Computer Science, said that there is wide-spread concern at major universities that the most promising computer scholars are avoiding graduate school. There is further worry that those who do obtain advanced degrees are almost all going into industry rather than academia, he added.

Bossert said that Harvard needs to continue to provide an exciting research environment in order to keep its present specialists, as well as attract talented young scholars. He and other tenured professors pointed to what they view as the advantages of a teaching career, an academic and personal freedom which is not possible in the corporate world and the stability of tenure.

"Tenure is not for free," said Bossert. "If you want someone to guarantee your salary for life, you've got to give something up, and that might mean not getting as much money."

Junior faculty, however, said the financial problems with teaching computer science at Harvard involve more than the lure of working for private companies. Unlike other uni- versities. Harvard pays junior faculty in all departments the same salary despite higher industrial demands for experts in areas such as engineering and computers

McKay Professor of Computer Science Harry R. Lewis said Harvard is "in a bad competitive position as far as other schools because it does not have a preferential pay scale benefiting junior professors in special areas.

Professors pointed to Assistant Professor of Computer Science Edward M. Clarke's decision to leave Harvard in June as an example of the University's inability to compete financially with other institutions. Clarke was offered an associate professorship here but has chosen to accept the same position at Carnegic Mellon University for considerably more money, professors said