Patriots VP To Teach At HBS

With three Super Bowl victories under his belt, Andy Wasynczuk has decided to leave his top post in the New England Patriots organization for a new position teaching Harvard Business School (HBS) students how to hold the line in negotiations.

Wasynczuk, who is the Patriots’ senior vice president and chief operating officer, will join the HBS faculty next month as a senior lecturer, the Patriots announced Friday. He will co-teach a required first-year course in negotiations this spring.

During his 11-year tenure with the Patriots, Wasynczuk managed the team’s daily business operations, negotiated player contracts and stadium deals, and managed the team’s salary cap.

Wasynczuk is no stranger to Harvard. He received an MBA from Harvard in 1983 and has been a guest speaker at HBS classes.

“I have very deep roots there,” he said in an interview yesterday.

Krannert Professor of Business Administration George P. Baker said that Wasynczuk always impressed his audiences at HBS.

“We brought him in to speak, and everybody thought he was great,” said Baker, who chairs the Negotiations, Organizations, and Markets (NOM) Unit that Wasynczuk will join. “We as a faculty, as well as students, could really learn a lot from him.”

According to Baker, HBS hired Wasynczuk in December, but the Patriots waited to announce the move until the end of their championship season.

Wasynczuk said he had been considering a move to Harvard for a long time, but had wanted to finish his work with the Patriots.

“We have done...everything we set out to do,” he said, noting the experience he gained during his long tenure with the team. “This will be a great opportunity to spread that knowledge to students.”

Hired in 1989 to serve as the chief operating officer of Foxboro Stadium, Wasynczuk also took on business responsibilities for the team in 1994.

He helped the Patriots secure a permanent home in Foxborough, Mass., and later oversaw the construction and naming of Gillette Stadium.

Wasynczuk will continue to serve as a consultant to Patriots owner and chairman Robert Kraft, who offered praise for his longtime friend in a press release.

“Over the years, I have valued his analytical skills, sound judgment, and his commitment to both the organization and to my family,” said Kraft, who received an MBA from Harvard in 1965.

Wasynczuk, the first sports executive to join the HBS faculty, said he will teach a course on compensation and incentives next fall.

He did not outline any plans beyond Harvard.

“I think that HBS is something that’s going to engage me fully for at least the next few years,” he said.

—Staff writer Daniel J. T. Schuker can be reached at dschuker@fas.harvard.edu.