A Law Dean With a New 'Mission'

Law School Dean Robert C. Clark seems determined to sidestep the political debates which made his appointment last winter so controversial.

Stressing themes of scholarly excellence and a research-oriented faculty which have come to be his trademarks, Clark reflected on his blueprint for the Law School in a recent interview with The Crimson.

Trained for the priesthood at the Jesuit-run Maryknoll Seminary, Clark says he has taken on a new "mission"--increasing the scholarly output of the Law School's 65 faculty members.

"If there is anything that moves me...it is that," he says. "One of the main functions of education is to find the answer to learn, to worry about, criticize and assess certain things, and not assume that we know the answer."

And this singleminded commitment to scholarship was a key factor in Clark's selection as dean, at least according to Tyler Professor of Constitutional Law Laurence H. Tribe, who chaired the faculty committee advising President Derek C. Bok on the deanship.

"Bok was only interested in people who made educational excellence a high priority," Tribe says. "Some people under consideration were cut because of that."

From the Law School's much-vaunted clinical studies program to international legal centers, Clark says he is re-focusing attention on research and scholarship.

Under former Dean James Vorenberg '49, Harvard was a pioneer in clinical studies, which gives students courtroom experience representing indigent clients. But Clark says he will expand the programs to underscore their scholastic component.

"I see the clinical program in education terms," Clark says. "I don't judge the program's success or failure in terms of cases won or lost, but in the quality of training, and whether the students are really learning ethical responsibility and studying the plight of the poor."

Although some students and faculty have questioned his political commitment to clinical studies programs, Clark says he supports them for their educational value--a theme which emerges throughout a conversation with the dean.

And Tribe agrees that the clinical program has the potential to yield a wealth of theoretical scholarship.

"Most of the best clinical work has been generative of a very considerable body of legal theory," Tribe says. "It is a fallacy that theory and practice have to be at war with each other."

Clark's insistence on scholarly excellence in Law School programs has also translated to a set of rigorous--and often controversial--standards for hiring faculty members.

Just two years ago, Clark opposed the tenure bid of a radical legal scholar, reasoning that her written work was inadequate. Traditionally, the law faculty have rubber-stamped tenure offers, so Clark's strenuous opposition to the appointment continued to reverberate when he was named dean earlier this year.

But Clark prefers to avoid any discussion of past tenure cases, and says his goal now is to meet the Law School's long-range target of hiring 12 new professors. And those professors, Clark says adamantly, will be academics for whom research is a priority.

"We've been selecting professors interested in scholarship," says Clark, "and making sure the faculty has the resources they need--like support over the summer and leaves of absence."

But such a goal requires capital support, and the Law School, currently in the midst of a $150 million drive, is having trouble persuading some alumni to contribute for an increase in faculty research.

"They never did have a faculty perspective--they are more concerned with teaching and the educational experience," says Clark. "There needs to be a greater emphasis on published research and its contribution to society's understanding about the law."

Clark says some donors indicate specific uses for their contributions, which somewhat limits his ability to direct Law School resources into faculty research.

"People want to give money for different types of program research," Clark says. "Donors look at social needs...We need them to look at what's right for good and important work."

Clark says that specific research support amounts to less than 5 percent of the school's budget, which leaves the funding for faculty research "open-ended."

Although some students have argued that the renewed emphasis on faculty research may detract from the faculty's focus on students, professors say teaching is not in jeopardy.

"The more productive the faculty, the better," Tribe says. "The best kinds of teaching are informed by scholarship. I see no tension between the two. Clark has long been not only a good teacher but highly interested in the subject of education and pedagogy," he says.

Clark's emphasis on faculty research is currently centered on the school's international legal studies programs. And his plans to bolster area studies centers have been bolstered with the faculty's recent vote to offer a tenured post to a top Chinese law expert, William Alford.

Alford, who accepted the offer, will head the school's East Asian Legal Studies Center, which has been without the direction of a faculty member for some time.

Clark says Alford's decision to accept the job was an "essential element in my decision not to terminate the program." In fact, he has mandated that every international studies center have a tenured professor at its helm to direct scholarship the programs generate.

"I am particularly not interested in having area programs without such an intellectual leader," says Clark. "And not programs run by just staff. I don't want those programs unless they result in world-class scholarship, with someone who makes it their main commitment."