Campus & Community

Stevenson named senior associate provost

6 min read

President Lawrence H. Summers has announced that Howard H. Stevenson,

Stevenson

Sarofim-Rock Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School (HBS), has accepted the position of senior associate provost for Planning and Resources at the University.

In his new role, Stevenson will advise the president, provost, and the vice president for Alumni Affairs and Development on all aspects of strategic planning for University fundraising initiatives, as well as their implementation. He will also assist the deans of the Schools and their senior officers in crafting fundraising priorities based on their academic and financial plans.

“The emerging academic priorities will help shape Harvard’s future for decades to come,” said Summers. “Fulfilling our academic aspirations will require us to attract substantial new resources. In his current position as senior associate dean for External Relations at Harvard Business School, Howard has played a pivotal role both in translating academic priorities into fundraising goals and in securing many of the largest commitments to HBS in its current campaign. He will now do that for us on a University-wide basis.”

Provost Steven E. Hyman added: “Having a senior member of our faculty with Howard’s management and marketing skills helping us to clearly understand the financial ramifications of our academic planning decisions will be critical to our success, especially from a fundraising perspective.”

Stevenson will assist in structuring fundraising goals in ways that will enable the University to achieve its academic priorities. He will provide counsel on all communications strategies and materials produced by Alumni Affairs and Development, and he will work directly with volunteer leaders and Harvard’s most generous donors.

Since 2000, Stevenson has played a similar role at the Harvard Business School, where he was the chief architect of the School’s current $500 million campaign, The Campaign for Harvard Business School. The first campaign in the School’s history, it will enable HBS to make significant

new investments in education and research. The HBS campaign has raised $446 million toward its $500 million goal and is scheduled to conclude in December 2005.

“This is a tremendous opportunity and honor for Howard, and his experience here at HBS and ability to make things happen will be of great value to the University,” said Dean of the Harvard Business School Kim B. Clark. “He has done a remarkable job leading our own campaign effort, and has earned the respect and admiration of countless alumni as well as the External Relations staff and many others in our community. While he will be stepping down in his role as senior associate dean for External Relations, I am extremely happy that he will continue his responsibilities as a full member of the HBS faculty,” Clark said.

Clark has announced that Mal Salter will become senior associate dean for External Relations at HBS effective July 1.

At HBS, Stevenson is the Sarofim-Rock Professor of Business Administration. The Sarofim-Rock Chair was established in 1982 to provide a continuing base for research and teaching in the field of entrepreneurship. Stevenson is its first incumbent.

Stevenson led an initiative to establish the study of entrepreneurship at HBS. The program for entrepreneurial studies uses a multidisciplinary approach to the creation and maintenance of entrepreneurial focus of business organizations. From 1999 to 2001, he served as chair of the Latin American Faculty Advisory Group at HBS. Stevenson has been the School’s senior associate dean for External Relations since 2000 and served as senior associate dean for Financial and Information Systems from 1991 to 1994. He has also chaired the Owner/President Manager Program in Executive Education as well as the Publications Review Board for the Harvard Business School Press of Harvard Business School Publishing Co.

“I am very excited about joining President Summers, Provost Hyman, and Vice President Rapier in the academic planning and external relations challenges ahead,” said Stevenson. “Getting to work with faculty colleagues across the University as we collectively envision and then shape Harvard’s future is what really attracted me to this new post,” he said. “Certainly, one of my great joys has been engaging alumni and friends of HBS. Having the opportunity to involve alumni in all facets of the University will surely be one of the best parts of this new assignment.”

Stevenson was a founder and first president of the Baupost Group Inc., which manages partnerships investing in liquid securities for wealthy families. When he resigned from active management, Baupost assets had grown to more than $400 million. He is now co-chairman of the Advisory Board of Baupost LLC, a registered investment company. From 1978 to 1982, Stevenson was vice president of finance and administration and a director of Preco Corp., a large privately held manufacturing company. In addition, in 1970-1971, he served as vice president of Simmons Associates, a small investment banking firm specializing in venture financing.

Before 1978, he held various academic appointments at Harvard University, specializing in real property asset management and general management. He received his B.S. in mathematics, with distinction, from Stanford and his M.B.A., with high distinction, and D.B.A. degrees from Harvard. He was a Thomas Watson National Merit Scholar and a recipient of the ALCOA and Ford Foundation Fellowships for graduate study.

He has authored, edited, or co-authored eight books and 41 articles including “New Business Ventures and the Entrepreneur,” with Michael J. Roberts, H. Irving Grousbeck, and Amar Bhidé; “Policy Formulation and Administration,” with C.R. Christensen, N. Berg, and M. Salter; “The Entrepreneurial Venture” with William Sahlman; “The Importance of Entrepreneurship,” and “Capital Market Myopia,” with William Sahlman; “A Perspective on Entrepreneurship”; and “Preserving Entrepreneurship As You Grow.” “The Heart of Entrepreneurship,” “How Small Companies Should Deal with Advisers,” “Why Be Honest If Honesty Doesn’t Pay,” and “Success That Lasts” have appeared in The Harvard Business Review. Other scholarly papers of his have appeared in Sloan Management Review, Real Estate Review, Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of Business Strategy, Strategic Management Journal, and elsewhere. He has also authored, co-authored, or supervised more than 150 cases at Harvard Business School. He is the author of “Do Lunch or Be Lunch: The Power of Predictability in Creating Your Future,” published by HBS Press, and co-author, with David Amis, of “Winning Angels: The Seven Fundamentals of Early Stage Investing.” His latest book, co-authored with Laura Nash, “Just Enough: Tools for Creating Success in Your Work and Life,” was published in March.

He is currently a director of Camp Dresser & McKee and Landmark Communications Inc., as well as a trustee for several private trusts and foundations. He is a public director of National Public Radio, a trustee of the Massachusetts Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, and a director of Sudbury Valley Trustees, where he served as president from 1996 to 2000. He is a trustee of the Boston Ballet and a member of the Harvard Club of New York City.