Holding the Center : Memoirs of a Life in Higher Education

This memoir by Howard Wesley Johnson, who was president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) during the 1960s and 1970s, is an autobiography as well as a history of how MIT coped with and responded to the hyperturbulance of the Vietnam era. The book reflects three themes: it is a history; it is a personal memoir that analyzes the author's mind set; and it is about management and leadership in modern times, about organizing to achieve goals, and about generating sound decisions. The book's 11 chapters are: (1) "Growing Up in South Chicago during the Depression"; (2) "College and Going to War"; (3) "The University of Chicago after the War: Student and Faculty Member"; (4) "Becoming a Part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology"; (5) "The School of Industrial Management becomes the Sloan School"; (6) "Early Years as President of MIT"; (7) "Grim Years for the Nation and the Universities"; (8) "Education in the Midst of Turmoil: The Close of a Presidency"; (9) "Chairing the MIT Corporation and Other Challenges"; (10) "Boston's Museum of Fine Arts in a New Era"; and (11) "MIT Goes On." A coda, "Note for Students on Leadership," is appended. (Contains a list of sources and registry of names.) (SM) Memoir of a former MIT President, as well as professor, corporate director, and advisor to American government agencies and to museums and foundations.Howard Wesley Johnson has been associated with MIT for more than forty years and been a major influence on the modernization and expansion of many of its programs. He will be most remembered as a management educator and as MIT's president during the turbulent late 1960s and early 1970s. The title of his memoirs reflects his central, usually lonely position in those days, trying to hold together an institution often torn apart by the turmoil of the times. Johnson was more successful at navigating the minefields on campus than were many other college and university presidents, perhaps because he was always willing to listen to both sides and because his values were in the right place—against the war in Vietnam, in favor of increased participation in the university by women and minorities, and concerned about environmental issues. As a professor and administrator at MIT, a corporate director, and an advisor to American government agencies and to museums and foundations, Johnson consistently sought both to understand and to apply the principles of good management. Howard Wesley Johnson has been associated with MIT for more than forty years and been a major influence on the modernization and expansion of many of its programs. He will be most remembered as a management educator and as MIT's president during the turbulent late 1960s and early 1970s. The title of his memoirs reflects his central, usually lonely position in those days, trying to hold together an institution often torn apart by the turmoil of the times.

Johnson was more successful at navigating the minefields on campus than were many other college and university presidents, perhaps because he was always willing to listen to both sides and because his values were in the right place—against the war in Vietnam, in favor of increased participation in the university by women and minorities, and concerned about environmental issues.

As a professor and administrator at MIT, a corporate director, and an advisor to American government agencies and to museums and foundations, Johnson consistently sought both to understand and to apply the principles of good management.

Holding the Center 1 Memoirs of a Life in Higher Education 3 Contents 7 Foreword 11 Preface 17 Acknowledgments 21 Growing Up in South Chicago during the 25 Depression 25 College and Going to War 39 The University of Chicago after the War: 83 Student and Faculty Member 83 Becoming a Part of the Massachusetts 103 Institute of Technology 103 The School of Industrial Management 115 Becomes the Sloan School 115 Early Years as President of MIT 147 Grim Years for the Nation and 177 the Universities 177 Education in the Midst of Turmoil: The 209 Close of a Presidency 209 Chairing the MIT Corporation and Other 239 Challenges 239 Boston s Museum of Fine Arts 267 in a New Era 267 MIT Goes On 287 Coda: A Note for Students on Leadership 301 Sources 305 Registry of Names 307 Index 333 Picture Credits 353 "Howard Wesley Johnson has been associated with MIT for more than forty years and been a major influence on the modernization and expansion of many of its programs. He will be most remembered as a management educator and as MIT's president during the turbulent late 1960s and early 1970s. The title of his memoirs reflects his central, usually lonely position in those days, trying to hold together an institution often torn apart by the turmoil of the times."--Jacket Howard Wesley Johnson has been associated with MIT for more than forty years and has been a major influence on the modernization and expansion of many of its programs. He will be most remembered as a management educator and as MIT's president during the turbulent late 1960s and early 1970s. The title of his memoirs reflects his central, usually lonely position in those days, trying to hold together an institution often torn apart by the turmoil of the times