Massachusetts Hall Pioneer Looks Back

When asked whether she'd ever imagined working at Harvard for 25 years, Vice President for Administration Sally Zeckhauser laughs and replies, "No, not at all! In 1973, I was the mother of a two-year-old child, contemplating a doctoral program, just trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I thought I'd work at Harvard until I'd figured that out, but I never did. Isn't it funny how things change?" Today, Zeckhauser will be honored at an annual ceremony along with 136 other faculty and staff who have served the University for 25 years.

Indeed, a visit to Zeckhauser's office in Mass Hall symbolizes just how much Harvard has changed in the last quarter century. When Zeckhauser, who is married to Richard J. Zeckhauser, Frank Plumpton Ramsey Professor of Political Economy in the Kennedy School of Government, began her career here, no woman had ever held an office in hallowed Massachusetts Hall, home of the President and Vice Presidents of the University. This year, she celebrates her twenty-fifth year in a distinguished career that includes breaking ground as the first woman vice president in Harvard history.

Zeckhauser's tenure began with a part-time job running the one-person Office of Analytic and Administrative Studies. Her first task was to evaluate the University's financial information system. After undertaking several studies, she spent a year examining Harvard's diverse and unwieldy real estate portfolio. She found that the University had at best a cloudy picture of its own holdings and was consequently losing almost $1 million a year. Zeckhauser recommended that Harvard establish a real estate management firm and she was soon asked to spearhead the new venture herself. "I had just had my second child when Joe Wyatt, vice president and my then-boss, offered me the job and asked me to come back full-time. I accepted his offer and it was truly a turning point in my career."

During nine years as president and chief executive officer of Harvard Real Estate Inc., Zeckhauser transformed Harvard real estate from an administrative department with a yearly deficit of $1 million to an independent nonprofit corporation with more than 100 employees that returned more than $8 million a year to the University when she left.

In 1988, Zeckhauser was appointed vice president of administration. At the time, she says, she was conscious of her trailblazing role but was determined to keep it from overwhelming or defining her. "What was important to me was that I knew I could do a good job, and if I did a good job, so much the better for the women who would come after me."

Twenty-five years have given Zeckhauser a unique perspective on the evolving presence of women at Harvard. "When I started, I would attend many meetings where I was the only woman present. Today, that's not the case at all." Zeckhauser, who now oversees

Harvard's Work/Family programs, also sees great improvement in Harvard's benefits for women and for families. "I was fortunate in being able to use the Radcliffe daycare center, a marvelous resource, but other than that, Harvard had very little in the work/family arena back then. Today, we have a comprehensive work/family program that is overseen by an active committee of faculty and administrators and that offers many options and sources of support for women and men with families. In fact, the University is currently planning a new state-of-the-art daycare facility."

As for challenges that lie ahead, Zeckhauser says, "There are two women on the Corporation and for the second time, a woman leads the Board of Overseers, but like many people, I'd love to see a woman as dean, leading one of our Schools. With women increasingly filling the ranks of professors, the prospects have improved dramatically."

In her role as Vice President for Administration, Zeckhauser oversees the University's plant maintenance, operation and utility services, transportation, environmental health and safety, physical planning and real estate, food services, human resources, and the Faculty Club. How does she handle such a daunting and diverse group of responsibilities? "It's a little mind-boggling but if I had to think of what my greatest accomplishment has been, it's that I've assembled a terrific team of managers over the years. In many cases, what we're talking about has been thanks to them. But the challenge never stops. In the past three years, we've lost four people to vice presidencies elsewhere -- two to the Ivy League, one to a state university, and one to Disney. Of course, having a talented staff and being known as a good training ground help attract people too."

Another of Zeckhauser's proudest accomplishments, her part in the Yard renovation project, was completed four years ago. "It was a challenging project -- physically, technically, and administratively. Working with Arts and Sciences, we restored the gates, fences, landscaping, and the freshman dormitories to meet current needs while respecting their historic forms. Of course, I was part of a team of truly dedicated people. Today, when I walk through the Yard, I see the beauty and feel the history. I am proud to have helped." The Yard project has garnered a number of awards, both federal and local, including the Certificate of Preservation Merit from the city of Cambridge and the Cambridge Historic Mission, the National Preservation Honor Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Award for Historic Preservation from the Boston Society of Architects.