In 1986, he was rebuked by the national press and members of the University's faculty for awarding a medal of "distinguished public service" to Attorney General Edwin Meese III.

Allison was also chastised for overly-aggressive money seeking tactics.

In 1987, he again received national attention when The Crimson learned that he had approved a draft agreement to give a Texas couple "officer of the University" status in exchange for a $500,000 donation.

Many say the scandals, and Allison's commitment to growth without analysis or consolidation, left the school depressed and bloated with no firm idea of a mission or centralized curriculum.

"I think the School got a little out of breath," Ramsey Professor of Political Economy Richard J. Zeckhauser said at the time.

But perhaps most surprising, in light of Allison's fundraising abilities, was the financial status of the school on his departure. Despite his years of successful rainmaking, the school was financially insolvent and unable to complete its Taubman building project with the allotted funds when Robert D. Putnam took over as dean in 1989.

Financial Consolidation

Putnam, Gurney professor of political science and associate dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, began a period of financial consolidation for the school.

The Taubman building, an ambitious project typical of the aggressive growth of the Allison years, cost twice as much as the donation to build it.

The fiscally cautious Putnam focused on the financial crisis and successfully brought it to heel.

"Putnam inherited a financial situation that was not very good and straightened it out pretty well," says Thompson. "That was Putnam's major achievement."

But that achievement came at a price. Putnam whom many say never really wanted the deanship, spent little time on faculty or curriculum issues.

He did not provide either a vision or a direction for the School, which many said at the time was "flying apart."

"Putnam made an enormous contribution, but he didn't lay out any goals or direction for the future,' Thompson says.

The result was plunging faculty morale and widespread tension among the School's professors.