The most recent department to “go into receivership,” in Knowles’ words, was VES, and this intervention is probably the most vivid example of Knowles acting without prior warning. It also prompted strong resentment from vocal department faculty who say that Knowles acted unilaterally.

Four staff members who joined the department last summer filed informal complaints with FAS Personnel this winter about the work environment in VES. They alleged that three department faculty members, including chair Ellen Phelan, treated them either dismissively or disrespectfully and that the department was in administrative chaos.

The complaints were relayed to Knowles, who removed Phelan from her chair without warning and installed a proven administrator, Kenan Professor of English Marjorie Garber, after Phelan refused to resign. The department faculty members were not officially notified of the decision for nearly three weeks. At this point, the permanent professors met with Knowles but were told that the exact substance of the complaints had to remain confidential.

Some professors expressed outrage both at Knowles’ removal of Phelan and of the lack of correspondence that preceded it. Phelan says that the department’s most recent external review was strongly positive and that she received a merit raise just months before she was removed from her position.

Arnheim Lecturer on Studio Arts Nancy M. Mitchnick called Knowles’ actions “crooked.”

“Ellen was really wronged,” she says. “There were other ways to solve this. There could have been a roundtable discussion.”

A Dean and His President

Knowles and Harvard President Neil L. Rudenstine entered their current jobs on the same day, and both say they are good friends and colleagues.

Next month, however, Knowles will have to start his relationship with the Central Administration anew.

Faculty deans serve at the pleasure of the President, just as FAS administrators serve at the pleasure of the Dean. Knowles is evasive about his future plans, conceding only that barring Presidential indication to the contrary, he will remain in office “more than a year but less than a decade.”

Summers has given no indication that he wishes to replace Knowles, and Knowles says they have begun a correspondence.

Unlike the eternally patient Rudenstine, whose priorities were fundraising and university integration, the assertive Summers has implied that he will focus his managerial energies on undergraduate education, an area that falls entirely within the Dean of FAS’ domain. Observers say it is too early to tell whether this overlap will be a source of collaboration or conflict.