Ec Dept. Attracts Leading Faculty

Jeffrey G. Williamson is not the type of person who takes no for an answer.

Sitting in his spacious Littauer office, Williamson, chair of the economics department and Bell professor of economics, sums up his philosophy succinctly.

"I like to win," he says.

And his economics department is thriving because of it.

In an era when Harvard departments sometimes have trouble attracting new faculty members--of the 200 academics Harvard has offered tenure since 1991, 60 have told the University no--the economics department is excelling.

Within in the last two years, the department has tenured five new professors, several of whom Williamson lured away from the clutches of other top schools. The department is currently closing in on a goal to hire five new associate professors.

Williamson's charisma, however, is only one explanation for these recent successes.

He points to internal improvements in the department as the main reason he's been hearing "yes" so frequently recently.

Trials and Tribulations

For Williamson, every new hire is a new battle.

"Our problem is that we only hire the best--and everyone else wants them too," Williamson says,

He says Harvard will hire any professor in any field. There's only one small requirement for any scholar to get on Williamson's hit list: he or she must be the best in the world.

But in the fierce competition for the best, the Harvard economics department has prevailed.

In the last two years, the economics department has had nine opportunities to gain or lose faculty. They were successful in eight of the cases.

The Harvard name alone draws some to Cambridge. The Harvard's economics department is the best in the nation, according to the U.S. News and World Report college rankings.

Ariel Pakes, who joined the department this year from Yale, does not deny its influence on his decision.

"Its something that I don't like to admit to myself and hence haven't tried to quantify," he says.

And Williamson's success does not end with his Yale catch. The new professors have come from top economics departments around the world.

Take Michael R. Kremer '85.

At age 35, Kremer is one of the top young economists in the nation. He's received a MacArthur "genius" grant. President Clinton selected him as one of the nations first 60 recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.

An expert in development and macroeconomics, Kremer's areas of research include fertility, education, research incentives and economic growth.

Until last year, Kremer was happily ensconced at MIT, where he already had tenure. But when Williamson dangled Harvard's offer, Kremer came.

And then there's Pakes, an industrial organization and econometrics expert.

And Kenneth S. Rogoff (Princeton) and Claudia Goldin (University of Pennsylvania.) And Philippe Aghion (University College London) who will join the department next fall.

The Harvard Ec department's got them all.

And Williamson is actively recruiting new junior faculty members.

"On the junior faculty front we have five possibilities," he says. "Three have said yes and we're fighting tooth and nail for the other two.

"I'm confident that we are going to win," he added.

BF

In the hard-fought battle, the economics department does not always win.

Though Williamson says he would love to increase the percentage of women in the faculty, for instance, the current lack of women in the department continues to be an obstacle for new hires.

"They see a place like Berkeley where half the faculty are women--she may not say so but surely it will influence her choice," Williamson says.

Another challenge that all departments face is that often faculty come with families. Jobs for spouses, schooling for children and housing, all must be addressed when the department tries to lure a new hire to Cambridge.

And, of course, there's always money.

According to Williamson, the salaries that his department can offer are usually lower than that of their competitors.

"It used to be we could get away with a big differential, but we can't any more," he says. "Now if people can't go to the number one place, number two is pretty bloody good."

Who and How?

It is a long, hard process that brings top faculty to Harvard. Williamson said that from start to finish it usually takes about a year.

The process begins with long internal meetings to discuss whom the department is going to pursue. The meetings are long and tiring; the department must sift through the nation's scholars to find, that's right, the best.

Once a candidate has been given the department's nod, the department asks Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles to issue a "hunting license," says Williamson.

The University convenes an ad hoc committee including President Neil L. Rudenstine himself to examine the scholar's writings and teaching. An offer isn't extended until all sign off: the department, Knowles and Rudenstine. After the go ahead is given, potential professors are wined and dined until they agree to come to Harvard.

Happy People

So, wherein lies success?

Williamson says the department can recruit forever, but no one will say yes if current members of the department are grumbling about the internal problems. One key to success in attracting faculty seems to be improving the quality of life for junior faculty.

According to Williamson new enthusiastic hires have done just that in the economics department.

In the past--even as recently as five years ago--graduate students and even junior faculty used to bad mouth the department because they were treated poorly, Williamson says. Not so anymore.

"It wasn't planned," he says. "Harvard has been hiring younger senior faculty and as the senior faculty get younger they can connect better with junior faculty."

Certainly senior faculty who are in their mid-to-late thirties have more to talk about with peers who are only five to 10 years younger, Williamson says.

More forced interaction between the different levels of faculty also plays a role.

"As economics gets more complex there is an increased importance of team courses," Williamson says. "Lots of people teach together and you can't do that without a high regard for each other's abilities."

Williamson also points to weekly workshops in which faculty members in different fields meet to discuss a variety of issues. Here, Faculty interact on equal footing, each vying to hold his or her own in conversation. Judgement is not passed based on age or seniority.

"It's wonderful for individuals to evaluate people for who they are and not other stuff," Williamson says. "It's great for developing a close-knit group.

All of this leads to a generally good feeling in the department, Williamson says.

"The department works well together now," he says. "We can have dialogues that are contentious but it's not personal."

Along similar lines, there has been a concerted effort to treat junior faculty well, Williamson says.

"There is no ganging up on junior faculty," he says. "On the contrary, we do the dirty work and then they do their work."

And while Williamson acknowledges that the notorious infrequency of internal tenures at Harvard can be demoralizing for junior faculty, he says the training junior faculty receive at Harvard can be enough.

"There is an implicit contract that we will make you the best economist and we'll support you so that when you don't get tenure you can get a good appointment elsewhere," Williamson says.

New senior faculty members say one of most important factors in their decision to come here was that their peers are here.

"Success in recruiting builds on itself." Kremer says. "For example, the fact that Ariel Pakes, Ken Rogoff and Al Roth had accepted offers at Harvard increased Harvard's attractiveness to me."

Williamson's desire to win has served him and the economics department well for the last 17 years here. This year he will step down as chair of the department.

"I like the challenge," Williamson says, but I'm tired."