In the report, Spence formally apologizes to conference participants, scholars in the Middle Eastern Studies field and to the academic community at large, saying he is determined "to see that this type of problem will not arise again."

Spence states: "The problem of disclosure of the conference contract may have caused a loss of confidence in the Center and in the University's ability to follow effectively its policies in areas that are crucial to scholars."

Committee Disbanded

In announcing that he will disband the six-member faculty executive committee overseeing the center, Spence uses unusually strong language, the strongest of the report.

Spence, calling the executive committee "a divided body," states that as currently constituted it can no longer serve a "useful function." Spence states that the three members who in October called for Safran's resignation did so without consulting their colleagues and before a review had been launched.

Aga Khan Professor of Iranian Richard N. Frye and Professor of the History of Arabic Science Abdelhamid I. Sabra, two of the three committee members asking for Safran's resignation, said they had reached one of the two other executive committee members, who declined to join them, and were unable to reach the other. The third committee member calling on Safran to resign, Professor of Arabic Wolfhart P. Heinrichs, could not be reached for comment.

The two executive committee members who did not call for Safran's resignation--Robert J. Murray, director of the National Security Program at the Kennedy School of Government, and Coolidge Professor of History David S. Landes--also could not be reached for comment.

Sources said Landes is the one executive committee member said in Spence's report to have been "deeply offended" by his colleagues' efforts against Safran, who is the sixth executive committee member.

In its concluding paragraph, the report states that the six-member faculty standing committee on Middle Eastern Studies will "take a much more active role in the oversight of the Center and its policies."

Spence said a search for a new director has not yet been launched. Christopher J. Georges contributed to this report.