BOSTON—Robert Reich, former President Bill Clinton’s first secretary of labor, announced Wednesday that he will be seeking the Democratic nomination for Massachusetts governor on a platform of improving the economy.

In an interview after the announcement, Reich said that a November visit to a Harvard class was a “catalyst” for his decision to run.

Reich said that the discussion he had with the class, Religion 1529: “Personal Choice and Global Transformation,” about personal courage was a “profound moment” for him, and that later that day he began to explore a run for governor.

“I left that class thinking to myself—this state is a mess and I need to run for governor,” Reich said. “It was from that moment that I began to think I’ve talked the talk a lot, now it’s time to walk the walk.”

Brian Palmer, who created and teaches Religion 1529, said he and the head teaching fellow, Kate Holbrook, thought the experience of interviewing people “whose courage and commitment have made a difference in the world” would be “transformative” for students and teachers.

But he said he never expected the guests to come away changed men and women.

“She and I knew that we were dealing with, powerful themes and material and examples of lives,” Palmer said. “But we assumed that our guests were already sort of fully formed, that they were not learning and growing from the encounter as much as we were.”

The transformative moment, as Palmer and the candidate recall it, came when Reich remembered for the class a childhood moment of courage, standing up to a neighbor who had said that he would have Reich’s dog put to sleep.

“[Reich] said that at the end of that verbal confrontation, he felt as if he understood that he did not need to be afraid of anyone in the whole world,” Palmer said.

Reich, a 55-year-old man who stands 4’10 1/2” tall, was frequently self-deprecating in his speech announcing his run for the governor’s seat.

Reich started out with a joke, as he pulled out a wooden step to stand on.

“At least I stand firm on my platform,” Reich quipped.

But Reich quickly got down to business.

“I became secretary of labor to fight for the working women and working men of America,” Reich said. “I was a member of an administration that oversaw the longest economic expansion and new growth in history. We added millions of new jobs.”

Reich contended that there is a “vacuum of leadership” at the state level, particularly when it comes to the economy, and said that in his campaign he would be “focusing like a laser beam on the economy and on jobs.”

There are “two states of Massachusetts”—the haves and the have-nots—said Reich, currently a Brandeis University law professor. He presented his economic plan yesterday in Lawrence, Mass., a city known for its bleak economy.

Reich said he did not think it would be easy for him to win enough delegates to qualify for the September primary, but that he was determined to fight. Reich needs to garner 15 percent of the delegates at the Democratic state convention in June to make it on to the ballot—but many delegates are expected to commit to candidates by the party’s caucus in just over three weeks.

Reich joins a crowded field of six Democratic candidates, including likely frontrunners state Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham ’72 and former national party chair Steve Grossman.

“I have a confession—I am not a big man,” Reich said. “But as the saying goes, it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”

While some critics have said that having Reich in the governor’s seat would mean higher taxes, Reich vowed to do “everything in my power” not to raise taxes.

“I am not going to give you this ‘Read my lips’ or ‘Over my dead body’—that’s irresponsible,” Reich said. “How can we ask people to pay more taxes when everyone knows there’s so much waste in state government?”

Reich frequently criticized current Acting Gov. Jane M. Swift in his speech and often made allusions to “patronage, cronyism, nepotism, cynicism.”

Reich said he was confident he could jump-start the economy from the governor’s desk.

“The kitchen table issues of America begin at the state level and begin with the governor,” Reich said.

At the Boston Park Plaza Hotel Wednesday, several Harvard volunteers turned out to support the candidate.

Alexander S. Grodd ’04 said that he met Reich while working on the Bill Bradley campaign, and is planning to start a students for Reich movement on the Harvard campus.

“We want to just help with student support, maybe get some Harvard students to run as delegates at the caucus on Feb. 2,” Grodd said.

Katherine S. Newman, Wiener professor of urban studies at the Kennedy School of Government, held up a construction-paper “SEE BOB RUN” sign at the announcement, and shouted out “Hey, here we are” when a reporter questioned Reich on how he would overcome a “late start” while attempting to gather support.

Newman said that her specialty, urban poverty, made her interested in Reich’s efforts as secretary of labor.

“He was responsible for some of the most innovative policies,” Newman said.“I have never done anything in electoral politics before but I am so excited about this campaign.”

And Newman said that she didn’t think Reich’s popularity among academics would prevent him from appealing to a wider base.

“Because we’re entering rocky times in Massachusetts, his ideas are all the more important right now,” Newman said. “Of all the academics we can think of, he’s the one who’s devoted his life to working families.”

Reich will return to Harvard today for a 4 p.m. lecture in Boylston’s Fong Auditorium.

—Staff writer Lauren R. Dorgan can be reached at dorgan@fas.harvard.edu.