He later moved into Mass. Hall as one of the University's five vice presidents, replacing John Shattuck, now assistant secretary of state.

Right Here, Right Now

The first year back in the Yard was trial by fire, an "on-the-job training year," according to Rowe.

"Not every year there's a bank robbery, a plane crash, a UFO book written by a Medical School professor--as well as the terrible tragedy of the Dunster murder-suicide and the so-called Gina Grant case," he says.

Rowe also handled the intense media scrutiny when his boss, President Neil L. Rudenstine, took an unexpected, lengthy leave of absence in late 1994, citing exhaustion.

Noting that "there simply isn't a play-book" for the months of crises Harvard's new vice president faced, Terry W. Hartle, senior vice president of the American Council on Education, says Rowe has flexed his "strong set of nerves...and not a little bit of humor, which helps him keep his sanity."

When some of the external pressure was off--although he says that "the spotlight is always on because it's Harvard"--Rowe concentrated on a "totally new world for Harvard," a world he knows well: Washington.

Rowe saw that there was "not enough collaboration and coordination" among research colleges and universities at the same time that he says the "Republican revolution" of 1994 put research funding "up for grabs."

Commissioning focus groups and rallying broad-based support through inter-university coordination, Rowe developed the Science Coalition, an alliance that promotes federal funding on basic science research. Founding the Coalition was an accomplishment colleagues across the country laud.

"He stimulated desire to increase spending," Hartle laughs. "He does an absolutely terrific job of representing all of Harvard's diverse interests."

"This went from being a crazy idea to a 60-to-65-institution coordination," Rowe says. "I was regarded as a nut, and now [colleagues] are with me."

A Rowe Less Travelled

Susan L. Peterson was an intern at the Harvard News Office who needed a place to stay and was invited to live in one of the spare bedrooms at the spacious Rowe residence near the Quad.

"It was a unique situation, but probably one of the greatest years of my life," Peterson says. "Jim is one of the finest people I know and have ever met."

Having seen Rowe both on the job phoning lobbyists and at home with his family and his golden retrievers Butte and Montana (named after his father's birthplace), Peterson says Rowe is a dedicated family man.