Kennedy School Professor Herman B. “Dutch” Leonard, who taught Kirwan while she was at the Kennedy School, said that he expects Kirwan to be a more transparent administrator than most at Harvard, noting that she turned the state budget into a much less cryptic public document when she took over as finance secretary.
“I think Leslie’s inclinations in general would be to say that an understandable accounting is better for some of the players than a cryptic and difficult-to-understand presentation,” Leonard said.
CUTTING THE RIGHT WAY
A glance at Kirwan’s resume reveals extensive experience in the fiscal management of large organizations. As the state’s secretary of administration and finance, Kirwan helped close a series of billion-dollar deficits and developed the state capital budget. Prior to her time in the State House, Kirwan also worked for the MPA and the Massachusetts Department of Revenue.
“She has built a career moving in a fairly logical progression within that domain, developing greater experience the whole way,” Leonard said.
“I have a long list of questions that come from my own experience of how budgets have been constructed in agencies I have worked in—there are going to be Harvard flavors of all of those things,” Kirwan said. “I’m sure there are many analogies I’ll find in the Harvard FAS budget.”
FAS may be uncharted professional terrain for someone familiar with working for state organizations, but Kirwan is no stranger to Harvard. Kirwan, who grew up in Cambridge “in the shadow of the University” was a student not only of the College but at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Her FAS appointment, Kirwan said, is the perfect opportunity to help her alma mater as it undergoes tough fiscal times, and to use the management skills she has bolstered through her various government positions in the past. The FAS deanship was “too good a chance to pass up,” Kirwan said.
Though Kirwan declined to comment on her plans regarding the FAS budget, she said the top priorities and missions of the University would serve as benchmarks as she makes administrative decisions in the future.
“We have to look always to preserve the essence of what makes Harvard the university that it is,” Kirwan said. “What are the core missions, core services of the organization you work for? It’s important to keep those in the forefront of your mind as you’re planning what cuts you can make.”
The longer the downturn continues, however, the more likely it will become that cutbacks will “really dismantle things that we still need to be in the business of doing,” Kirwan said.
—Staff writer Bonnie J. Kavoussi can be reached at kavoussi@fas.harvard.edu. —Staff writer Esther I. Yi can be reached at estheryi@fas.harvard.edu.