CID Ex-Chief: No Disagreement With Summers

To the editors:

The recent article on my departure from Harvard (“Summers Neglected CID, Says Ex-Chief,” news, Sep. 14) conveys the false impression that I left because of disagreement with Larry Summers or because there is no commitment at Harvard to the study of development. To the contrary, I think Larry Summers is a tremendous asset for the university and for those who care about global poverty at Harvard.

This is part of the statement I sent to The Crimson reporter when he was writing the article: “I believe in CID, and I did not go to Yale because of unhappiness with Harvard, but because of the more assured and superior resources and somewhat more agreeable intellectual directions at Yale, where I was once a faculty member.”

I also had personal family reasons for choosing New Haven over Cambridge. Although having resources obviously trumps a commitment to obtaining them, I am also convinced that Dean Ellwood and Larry Summers are committed to raising the needed funds and that CID can have a profound impact on the eradication of global poverty. As I also wrote in response to the reporter’s inquiries: “I had tremendous colleagues and great staff support at Harvard; I am giving up a lot” by leaving here.

MARK R. ROSENZWEIG

New Haven, Conn.

September 14, 2005