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By David Glancy (F'97, Ph.D. candidate) and Margaret Sloane (MALD '01) The Fletcher School is on the verge of letting go of one of its most valuable professors--Professor Carnes Lord. While we understand that Professor Lord's salary was paid for by outside sources until this semester and that Fletcher has made an effort to keep him here longer by funding his salary this semester, we believe it is now making a terrible mistake by letting him go. We believe that the highest priority should be placed on retaining Professor Lord because of the classes he teaches, his experience as an academic and practioner, his creation of the Program in Leadership and Statecraft and his commitment to Fletcher students. Professor Lord has been a part of the Fletcher community since the spring of 1996, when he arrived here as the John M. Olin Visiting Professor of Statecraft and Civilization. He teaches innovative classes in the field of Political Systems and Theory and has focused on leadership as a topic in all of them. They include: the Theory of Statecraft; the Development of Political Theory; Power and Legitimacy; Bureaucracy, Leadership, and National Security; Statesmen and Statecraft in the Contemporary Era; and Strategy. These courses currently comprise a major portion of the Political Systems and Theory field. They also complement courses in the very popular fields of International Security Studies and International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution. The interdisciplinary nature of Professor Lord's courses--including political theory, history, and political science--provide a mix of the practical and theoretical, which is ideal for fulfilling one of Fletcher’s stated missions: the education of "professionals around the world… to prepare them for positions of leadership or influence in the national and international arenas." Additionally, these courses include leadership as an integral focus, which is important to consider when examining issues of governance. The school's strategic plan, which was released this past summer, acknowledged the importance of Professor Lord's classes in the field of leadership as being a central component of the school. We believe these classes have become an important part of the Fletcher curriculum and that losing them will leave a void that the administration has no plan to fill. In addition to losing this important portion of the curriculum, Professor Lord's departure would also mean losing a renowned academic and accomplished professional. Professor Lord holds a Ph.D. in Classics from Yale and a Ph.D. in Government from Cornell University. He has worked as a staff member of the National Security Council and as Vice President Quayle's National Security Advisor. For Fletcher students, Professor Lord's experience is reflected in his ability to integrate theory and practice, providing an understanding of the principles of philosophy and political theory and relating these abstract concepts to the concrete exercise of leadership in the policy world. In his classes, Professor Lord makes students think; he forces his students to assess their own assumptions and apply the course material and lectures to the real world. With his background, he is in an ideal position to illustrate his points with actual experience and, more importantly, offer insight into the inner workings of national security policy formulation. Many Fletcher students expect to enter the policy world when they graduate, and they are well served by Professor Lord's theoretical teachings laced with real-world examples; they leave little room for idealistic musings about the perfectibility of government but are pragmatic in their assessment of what is necessary and possible. Last summer, Professor Lord developed a class on strategy (co-taught with Professor Vaaler) that demonstrates an innovative mix of political science literature and writings on business theory. The pairing of political and business theory in this class gives it the potential to become a core Fletcher course by attracting students from a wide range of fields. Currently, only Dean Galvin's Leadership class and the core Negotiations course bring together such a wide cross-section of the student body. With Dean Galvin's imminent departure at the end of this academic year and Professor Lord's likely departure after this semester, the school will be left with only one class that brings together students from different fields--something we hope the administration will consider given the increasing separation and growing animosity between the students focusing on business and those studying diplomacy, history, politics and law. In addition to his teaching, Professor Lord has enriched the Fletcher community through his extracurricular contributions. He initiated the Program in Leadership and Statecraft and raised outside funding to support it. The Program is an innovative, interdisciplinary effort intended to provide a common framework for examining issues of leadership in contemporary international affairs and the global economy. The "Global Leadership" speaker series, which is part of the program, brings senior officials from government, international organizations, and the private sector to Fletcher to address issues of leadership or statecraft in their particular area, reflecting on some of their own experiences. Speakers have included Robert Oakley, William Graham, Chas Freeman, Andrew Goodpaster, and Walt Rostow. The Program sponsored the "Global Competitors Speak" series, a forum for figures in foreign and multinational business enterprises to discuss the challenges and prospects of leadership in their industries. In conjunction with the speaker series, the program holds small lunches and dinners, which have been a great opportunity for students to meet and learn from the distinguished guests. Furthermore, the Program launched a publication series--Occasional Papers in Leadership and Statecraft--to transmit the substance of these lectures, along with articles by Fletcher faculty members, to other academic and policy institutions and key policymakers in the U.S. and abroad. In addition to creating the Program in Leadership and Statecraft, Professor Lord regularly stays the extra hour for after-class discussion, and has taken on the added workload of advising doctoral candidates. He has also helped students find jobs and offered career advice. And this fall, on short notice, he agreed to teach Professor Pfaltzgraff's class on crisis management. In short, Professor Lord is a dedicated member of this community who clearly cares about students, their education and the broader context in which they work. It is distressing to watch the administration allow him to leave despite his dedication and contribution to the community and the educational needs of Fletcher students. It should be clear from all we have written just what is at stake if Professor Lord departs. His interdisciplinary approach to teaching, his academic training and professional experience, and his contributions to the Fletcher community outside of the classroom constitute a strong case for making every effort to keep Professor Lord here. Fletcher's limited resources should be juggled and expended to ensure his continued presence on the faculty. Comments? Write us at letter@fletcherledger.com |
