Bulking Up His Idaho Roots

Gregory C. Carr has an impressive list of credentials.

The 1986 Kennedy School of Government graduate has a masters degree in public policy, is widely credited with expanding voice mail to the system used today, and was the chair of Prodigy when the Internet firm first went public.

He is also the man behind the KSG's Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, a program he helped fund with an initial $18-million donation.

All this, by the time Carr was 40.

But while the Harvard name was a nice addition to his resume, the Idaho native says his bachelors degree from Utah State often carried more weight than his Ivy League diploma.

"I found that in some parts of the country the [Harvard] name didn't really help at all," Carr says, explaining that some native Westerners feel more comfortable getting to know someone from the region than meeting a Harvard graduate.

Over a cup of coffee in Cambridge's Henrietta's Table, Carr modestly describes "a company called Prodigy" and "a new idea for doing voice mail," preferring not to draw attention to how he helped develop the technology that forms the backbone of communication through a company called Boston Technology.

Carr says his Harvard degree helped him hire employees by giving credibility to the company and its founders. But he says the Harvard name isn't the deciding factor for success.

"It certainly helps you to start a conversation with someone, but you have to have some kind of talent," he says. "Frankly, people would rather see prior success in the real world than they would someone who just went to a good college."

One benefit from studying at Harvard for Carr was that his KSG professors helped him later in his business career.

In Carr's case, he's found that the roles have been switched, and now people come to him for advice, ideas and even funding.

The KSG's Carr Center, known until last June as the Human Rights Initiative, was started after Carr--with the KSG's Douglas Dillon Professor of Government Graham T. Allison--decided that the KSG needed a human rights program. Carr's multi-million dollar donation helped start the research, teaching and training program in 1998.

Carr says he chose to start the program because of his familiarity with the school and its multidisciplinary approach to problem-solving.

Carr says the skill of critical thinking has turned out to be the most valuable benefit of his time at Harvard--much more so than any benefits he may have received in terms of networks or connections.

"Hopefully what I learned is how to solve problems by thinking critically," he said. "The problems you encounter in the business world probably won't be like the ones you learn in school, but what you learn is to discipline your mind."