Theory and Practice Combining real-life experience with academic philosophy has been one of the hallmarks of the Kennedy School’s approach to learning. This photo, taken in a classroom in 1980, is a good example. From left to right: Richard Neustadt started teaching at Harvard in the early 1960s, after serving as special assistant to President Harry Truman. Richard Darman worked in the Nixon and Ford administrations, then helped the school get up and running. He eventually returned to politics, working for the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and President George H. W. Bush, then came back to teach. Dean Joseph S. Nye, Jr., returned to Harvard in 1995, after serving as assistant secretary of defense for International Security Affairs. Nye joined the Harvard faculty in 1964. Hale Champion served as the school’s executive dean after a stint as undersecretary of health, education, and welfare in the Carter administration. He later served as chief of staff to Governor Michael Dukakis. Roger Porter is a veteran of the Ford administration, working on the Economic Policy Board as Ford’s special assistant. He eventually taught at the Kennedy School, and then left a few years later to work in the Reagan and Bush administrations. Porter returned to the Kennedy School to run the Center for Business and Government and to teach.

Photo: Elizabeth Craig