When Dean Albert Carnesale took over leadership of the Kennedy School in 1991, he found a directionless and divided facutly plagued by low, morale and the lack of a unifying vision.

Next month, as he departs to become provost of the University, he leaves a school on the mend but not fully recovered from a series of abrupt leadership changes and its own too-rapid expansion in the 1980s.

His departure raises questions about the future of the school, which many say will need a steady hand and a strong leader to continue on the path set during Carnesale's successful term.

"I think [Carnesale's promotion] is a great choice for Harvard and a terrible choice for the Kennedy School," says Robert Z. Lawrence, Williams professor of international trade and investment.

Carnesale was the third administrator to assume the School's reins in the space of just five years.

Such rapid flux is relatively rare at Harvard, where deans such as John H. McArthur of the Business School and Daniel C. Tosteson '46 of the Medical School lend a sense of stability to their schools with tenures of a decade or more.

Such stability is particularly lacking at the Kennedy School, some professors say.

"I think it is a problem when leadership in any of the schools turns over that rapidly, particularly in a School like the Kennedy School that's still defining its identity," says Dennis F. Thompson, Whitehead Professor of Political Philosophy.

And at the Kennedy School, which has a shorter tradition and less entrenched sense of mission than most schools, the dean may exert more influence, the professor says.

"The dean has more authority than in most schools, so when it changes you don't have clear direction of where the school's going," he says.

A History of Growth

This lack of direction dates back to the origins of the school and its rapid growth over the last 20 years.

Founded in 1936, the Kennedy School took on its present name and modern form in 1966.

Dillon Professor of Government Graham T. Allison '62, who took over as dean of the revamped schools in the late 1970s presided over the its quick expansion from a small institution to a huge amalgam of programs, professors and brand-new angular buildings.

Allison, a stellar fundraiser whose ability to woo donors fueled the rapid growth, was plagued by controversy toward the end of his term.