Light acknowledges that the type of changes he suggests cannot happen overnight. But he says that goals like one small class per student per semester are not out of reach.

Harvard’s mentoring situation, he says, is already very good.

“One of the best things about Harvard is that for most fields you have an unbelievable luxury of working one-on-one with faculty or young doctoral students,” Light says.

And in stressing the importance of teaching, Light says Harvard has come a long way since he arrived as a doctoral student in the mid-1960s.

“Harvard has always been committed to finding the best professor in the world in any given field,” Light says.

During the 1960s and 1970s “the best” was exclusively defined in terms of research, Light says. Teaching skills were rarely considered.

“Now, the professor still has to be a world-class thinker, but if they are not at least a B-quality teacher they don’t make the long list, let alone the short list,” he says.

But there are still goals to be reached in terms of encouraging interaction between teachers and students. Light acknowledges that professors are busy, and that they cannot all possibly spend significant amounts of time with undergraduates.

“If we can just get a reasonably large portion to do this, though, it would be a victory,” Light says.

If Light’s agenda and ideas seem familiar it might be because he has been sharing his results with College administrators all along. And in recent years, College innovation has largely focused on the areas Light finds most important. Additions to the freshman seminar program have meant an increase in the number of small classes available to first-year students, and the Freshman Dean’s Office has pushed to offer more first-years non-resident academic advisers.

Now with a new president in office, the moment might be right for further change. Light says thus far he has been impressed with Summers’ interest in undergraduate education.

“Leadership is very important in these matters,” Light says. “What Summers is saying is right on target.”

In interviews since Summers took over as president, he has emphasized many of the same themes that Light does—touching prominently on advising and class size considerations. He has also spent a considerable amount of time listening to the concerns of the undergraduates. Not surprisingly, Light has high praise for this type of personal interaction. Already Summers is distinguishing himself.

“There is already no doubt that Summers is trying to mix and mingle in a way Neil didn’t, especially in his later years,” Light says.

Sheer repetition of undergraduates’ importance has its value too.

“Summers says over and over that undergraduate education is important,” Light says. “At some point you believe it.”

—Staff writer David H. Gellis can be reached at gellis@fas.harvard.edu.