But he adds that good ideas can only get one so far, and that his research on poverty and income equality often remains on the fringe.

“Truth be told, the kinds of people who do best in campaigns are people who are good at being relatively upbeat and optimistic with relatively limited resources,” he says. “And my career has been devoted to studying what candidates often do not want to hear, although it might do him good to hear it.”

But others maintain that professors can also use political campaigns for their own agendas.

“If a professor is doing work in a policy area, usually they would like to see the kinds of views or ideas they advocate get adopted and implemented,” says Weatherhead Professor of Public Management Steven Kelman, who worked with Al Gore ’69 in the late 1990s on the then-vice president’s campaign to “reinvent government.” “Or they might get interested in a full time job after the campaign and one way to get that is to help the candidate get elected.”

And Briggs points out, that no matter the issue or the candidate, Harvard professors will “always have ties open.”

“Nowhere is in a position quite like Harvard,” he says. “Harvard is blessed with a certain reputation. This place is incredibly connected.”

—Staff writer Jessica E. Vascellaro can be reached at vascell@fas.harvard.edu.