A scholar who did hi graduate work at Harvard under Nobel laureate and Higgins Professor of Biology Emeritus George Wald, Dowling runs a lab of some 15 researchers and is particularly interested in examining the retins of the eye as the "model of the brain."

"I'm not ready to give up being a scientist yet." says Dowling. And it is sentiments such as this--combined with a sense as one official says, that the scholar may lack some of the "bite" needed for the job--that diminish for a number of observers the likelihood of Dowling becoming dean.

PERKINS, Dwight H.

What could have been a very tricky situation faced Dwight H. Perkins three years ago when he took over as director of the Harvard Institute of International development (HIID).

A full-scale political controversy had erupted just months before. When students and faculty fought President Bok's initial choice for head of Harvard's clearinghouse on research and advice on economic development. Arnold C. Harberger of the University of Chicago turned down the position, but not until after concerns had arisen about his association with the Chilean government and his policies. Which some said stressed economic efficiency over social welfare.

Perkins, friends and colleagues say, proved and able conciliator--"smoothing over any differences," as one HHD official says, and getting the institute back on track in its primary function of research and advising third-world countries on development strategies.

His performance in solidifying the institute's standing in the University--as well as his skills in the other administrative tasks he's taken on--has led some officials and scholars on campus to speculate with unusual frequency that the 49-year-old Burbank Professor of Political Economy might be one of Bok's candidates for the job.

In almost all respects colleagues describe Perkins as a pragmatist or a moderate--from his general political outlook to his handling of administrative matters to his approach to development issues.

"He doesn't come at it from a particular nation of ideology." HIID Executive director Michael Roemer says of Perkins's writings on Third world economics. Which are widely quoted in scholarly circles, Perkins explains. "I tend to approach contemporary problems from a historical perspective."

Perkins got his doctorate from Harvard in 1964 and while his original specialty was Chinese economics his work--including more than 50 articles and several books--has expanded to the more general questions of Asian and Third World development.

"If you ask who the top three are in development, Perkins is going to be there for sure," says one colleague.

Beyond his own research, Perkins has had a fair amount of administrative experience though not in the general Faculty affairs some other possible candidates have had a hand in. He served a stint as associate director of the East Asian Research Center and then as chairman of the Economics Department before taking on his HIID responsibilities.

As HIID director Perkins is said to be a diplomat who doesn't "needlessly ruffle feathers," in the words of one associate, but one who has worked hard to strengthen the institute's image as an impartial organization seeking only to improve the lot of the country needing advice.

One factor that could favor Perkins if he wanted the post is his relatively low profile on the Faculty. Which has apparently enabled him to avoid any major antagonisms. One long-time faculty member observes that Perkins has not been even a minor participant in the few really contentious issues to galvanize the Faculty over the past 10 to 15 years. Such as the Core and earlier on the debate over the Vietnam War and the student takeover and police bust of University Hall.

"Among his peers he is regarded as smart immensely conscientious and immensely fair-minded," summarizes one observer.