In search for expertise, Harvard looms large By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff | November 7, 2008 The Boston Globe
CAMBRIDGE - When Barack Obama sought advice before a critical Senate vote on the terrorist surveillance program earlier this year, he called his friend and former colleague Cass Sunstein, a constitutional law professor at Harvard Law School. When the Democratic presidential candidate convened a national security summit last summer, one of the hand-picked participants was Graham Allison, a nuclear weapons specialist at the Harvard Kennedy School. Obama's healthcare plan, meanwhile, was formulated by David M. Cutler, a Harvard economics professor. Nearly two-dozen members of the Harvard faculty - some of whom have known Obama since he arrived at Harvard Law School two decades ago - played a central role in shaping the policy views of the next president, as either formal advisers or informal consultants. From legal affairs and climate change to foreign affairs and the economy, they served as a backstop for his presidential campaign and some regularly exchanged phone calls and text messages with the candidate. Now, as President-elect Obama begins putting together his administration, his Harvard brain trust is hoping to fill prominent positions in Washington - as top White House advisers, senior political appointees, Cabinet chiefs, or judicial nominees. Indeed, some longtime observers predict Obama's election will mark a major new chapter in Harvard's influence at the top rungs of the government - perhaps on a scale not seen since Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy was elected in 1960. ... http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/11/07/in_search_for_expertise_harvard_looms_large/ *********************************** * POST TO [email protected] * *********************************** Medianews mailing list [email protected] http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
