Word: fm
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...FM: In three words, describe the ideal president of Harvard. JR: [Long pause.] I would say: visionary, broadly-educated—if I can count that as one word—and [pause] responsive. FM: And three words to describe President Summers? JR: Oh, that’s kind of mean. FM: Fair enough. I’ll ask another mean one. What is most annoying about President Summers? JR: I suppose it’s a certain impatience he has that’s most annoying. But I don’t think that?...
...FM: You must enjoy seeing your name in the big papers? JR: Oh, it’s also scary, you know. You can be misquoted. Luckily, I haven’t been misquoted. It’s certainly been a huge incursion on my time. People phoning me, e-mailing me, my Wi-Fi breaking down at home over the weekend. All those things were an incursion into my time. So no, I don’t have that particular desire to be famous. I’d rather keep teaching and writing...
...FM: Is it tiring being the Weary Professor of German and Comparative Literature? JR: It’s exceedingly tiring. In fact, when I was first given that title, I thought it must be a joke. But the first question I asked was, “Is there any special way to pronounce ‘Weary?’ Is it perhaps pronounced ‘Way-AR-ee?’” I was trying to get out from under that name, but I think the dean at that time proposed me for that position because...
...FM: How has all the Summers stuff affected your relationship with your colleagues and the other members of the Faculty? JR: Well, I’ve received an enormous amount of support. Of course I do have colleagues who are quite close to me who are on the other side. One of the very nice things is how very nicely they treat me. Everybody has been very civil. There are no people going around the corridors shooting dirty looks at each other or anything. In fact, I teach in the same classroom right after one of the supporters of President...
...FM: Who are Summers’s main supporters in the Faculty, along with Professor Wisse? JR: Well, certainly Professor Mansfield. I don’t know really who else. There are other people, but at the moment what was strange was that at the meeting on Tuesday, those people weren’t present. Maybe it was just too early in the semester, coping with shopping period—that may have been what it was. In any case, nobody got up to defend him at that meeting. But I’m sure there will be supporters...