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Substance Over Image
The rankings controversy is perhaps the most visible of the issues Harker took on during his seven years as dean. But his focus on substance over image came to define his tenure on every level, from record-breaking fundraising and the opening of Jon M. Huntsman Hall to international expansion and launching Wharton West.
Harker’s accomplishments include attracting and retaining top faculty in an ever-competitive market — the largest faculty of any business school. His vision of Wharton’s international mission led him to redouble the School’s efforts to connect with alumni around the world and share Wharton’s ideas with business leaders from Hong Kong to Costa Rica.
“He was one of the few deans of top U.S. business schools who recognized that business in general, and business education more specifically, needed to look beyond what was happening in the U.S., needed to consider more global issues,” said Della Bradshaw, Business Education Editor at the Financial Times.
Harker led the creation of Wharton West, the School’s San Francisco-based campus, and forged an alliance with INSEAD, the leading non-U.S. based business school. “He is the man who took Wharton out of Philadelphia and into the world,” said former INSEAD dean Gabriel Hawawini in a BusinessWeek article. “Dean Harker understood how globalization and the new economic environment are pushing business schools to adapt and better serve our students and corporate partners.”
That push also included oversight of two innovative and successful initiatives: expanding Knowledge@Wharton to nearly 1 million subscribers in 189 countries and Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, and Indian versions, and launching Wharton School Publishing.
Interesting Times, Tough Stands
Like many observers, Wharton Deputy Dean David
Schmittlein cites Harker’s ability to take a strong, principled position as a foundation to his term as Dean. “These were interesting times to be a business school dean,” Schmittlein said during Harker’s farewell dinner in April. Schmittlein recalled a time during the dot-com boom when an e-learning company came to Harker and said to him, “We want your brand, we want your curriculum, we want direct access to your faculty, or we will bury you.”
Harker’s response was a polite but firm no-thank-you, and he instead set about building Wharton’s own e-learning platforms. The ongoing result was the Alfred West Jr. Learning Lab, which has developed 23 technology-enhanced learning programs — simulations, web-based exercises, and interactive materials.
Another challenge came after the dot-com crash, when the School was in the midst of its $450 million Campaign for Sustained Leadership — the most successful business school campaign in history — and construction of the 320,000square-foot Jon M. Huntsman Hall. “He refused to let that campaign fail, he refused to let the school fail,” Schmittlein said. “For me personally, his bringing that campaign to closure during that time period was the greatest thing I have ever seen a business dean do.”
Much of those funds will continue what Harker cites as was his most important work as Dean: attracting and keeping faculty stars in a hyper-competitive environment. At Delaware, this push for the best and brightest will continue, Harker said. “The faculty are the lifeblood of the university,” he said.
And the rankings, despite continued controversy, continue to be published each year and Wharton continues to be present, though the School’s position on not providing access to alumni has not changed. What has changed, officials say, is that the School no longer embraces the rankings or promotes itself through them, even when it’s consistently at or near the top of the list.
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