Blog Post
It is not often that we set aside time during our busy days to honor the
valuable work of a friend or colleague. But we were reminded recently about
why we should do this more often. During an event-filled afternoon and
evening, the Belfer Center, along with several dignified guests, paid
tribute to STPP''s Founder and Director Emeritus, Professor Harvey Brooks.
Brooks, Benjamin Peirce Professor of Technology and Public Policy Emeritus,
was honored by Sidney Harman, CEO of Harman Industries, who has renamed the
Sidney Harman Professorship of International Science and Public Policy and
Human Development to the Harvey Brooks Professorship in Brooks'' honor.
Lewis Branscomb, Brooks'' successor as Director of STPP, orchestrated the
afternoon of tribute, calling it "A wonderful occasion to recognize the
seminal contributions Harvey Brooks has made - and continues to make - to
the study of science and technology policy. We are all grateful to Sidney
Harman for giving us this opportunity to point out how the strong anddiverse capability that Harvard now enjoys in this field stemmed from the
life work of a great scholar, and a very good friend."
Graham Allison, the Center''s director, said Harman''s tribute is more than a
goodwill gesture; "it is a lasting legacy." KSG Dean Joseph Nye, who
presented a special plenary session honoring Brooks, said "we''re here to
honor one of the true heroes of Harvard." Also honoring Brooks were John
Holdren, Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environment Policy, and Michael
Maccoby, president of The Maccoby Group. The speakers discussed the roles
for expertise in a democracy.
Brooks led the session with an overview of his work, which includes working
for General Electric in the 1940s as the associate head of the Knolls
Atomic Power Lab; serving as dean of the Division of Engineering and
Applied Physics at Harvard from 1957 to 1975; and publishing several
respected works on global environmental policy and risk analysis. The list
of Harvey''s achievements goes on and on. At the Center, Brooks is deeply involved with the recasting of national technology policy.
What does this professorship mean to the Center? William Clark, ENRP''s
director of the Global Environment Assessment Project, was the Sidney
Harman Professor of International Science, Public Policy, and Human
Development. Clark is now the Harvey Brooks Professor. This means Clark
will continue his research in environmental areas important to Harman,
Brooks, and the Center.
Colleagues of Brooks paid tribute to his work by calling him a mentor and a
leader in his field. Harman took a moment to describe what he respects
about Brooks: "When people attack what he''s doing, he knows he must be on
the right track." He said Brooks has "a tremendous intuition."
But the most heartfelt moment came during that evening''s dinner when Harman
quoted Einstein. "A human being is part of the whole - a universe - a part
limited in time and space in which we think of ourselves as somehow
separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of our consciousness.
That delusion is a sort of prison, limiting us to our feelings, our emotions and to just a few people close to us. Our task must be to free
ourselves from that prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace
all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty. No one can
accomplish the task fully, but the effort is itself an act of liberation
and a foundation of inner security."