When Thomas C. Schelling was on an Economics Department senior search committee in 1976, he wanted Harvard to hire a Stanford economist named A. Michael Spence.

The problem: Many members of the department were reluctant to tenure Spence because they were not familiar with the young scholar's work, Schelling says.

"I delivered 20-some copies of Mike's book to members of the department and said, `read it over the weekend,' and they did," Schelling recounts. "By the meeting on Tuesday they were, I would say, wildly enthusiastic--because they had read the book."

Schelling's story paints a revealing picture of the young Mike Spence--the 40-year-old wunderkind who became dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences after a rapid rise in Harvard'sEconomics Department.

But five years after Spence took over inUniversity Hall, some faculty and administratorswonder whether his early promise has resulted inconcrete improvements for a rapidly growingfaculty.

Most agree that Spence's tenure has been aquiet one--not much has visibly changed in FAS,according to both the dean's supporters and hisdetractors. Instead, the main issue of contentionis whether Spence's next five years will alterHarvard in the ways he says they will.

"As far as I can understand, he is working atchanging the fundamentals with much less concernfor the immediate appearance, which I think isadmirable and unusual," says Richard J. Zeckhauser'62 Ramsey professor of political economy at theKennedy School of Government.

Spence has billed himself as a long-rangeplanner, and has occupied his first five years asdean with the types of studies and analyses morecommon to management consultants than to managersthemselves.

`A Two-Edged Sword'

As a result, faculty members often findthemselves questioning whether Spence's ambitiousplans have come at the expense of short-termresults. Some even suggest that the dean'sdeliberative style can function as an excuse forinaction.

"That kind of caution is fine and good--youhave to be prudent but it's a two-edged sword,"says Professor of History Steven Ozment. "Cautionand prudence can lead you to dawdle to a pointwhere no change occurs."

Still Spence's defenders say his caution is anintegral part of his method: To work effectively,Spence reasons, he must understand problemsthoroughly before attacking them.

In practice, this means Spence has namedcommittee after committee to report on problemafter problem--from the hiring of minorities andwomen to the office space crunch which is anever-growing problem for FAS and even thepotential restructuring of the Faculty'sgovernance.

"He has a very broad view of Harvard and of theFAS, and he takes the long view on what isimportant," says Kennedy School Dean Robert D.Putnam, who worked closely with Spence as theformer chair of the Government Department.

Perhaps Spence's focus on the big picturerather than the short-term payoff, is particularlyapparent because of the footsteps in which he hasfollowed.