This article is the second of a two-part series chronicling the life of University President Lawrence Bacow. Yesterday, the Daily examined Bacow's childhood, and today it will take a look at his life in Boston.
For being a self-proclaimed "math and science kid," University President Lawrence Bacow cited an uncharacteristic devotion to reading in his youth.
"As a teenager, I was a voracious reader. Whether it was Scientific American or the Economist, I was always reading," he said.
It was his interest in such publications that ultimately piqued his desire to attend Massachusetts Institute of Technology for his undergraduate studies.
"As a kid, I always grew up wanting to go to MIT," Bacow said. "I used to read Scientific American, and MIT was this mythical place. I had never met anyone who went there - nobody from my high school had ever gone there ... The first MIT graduate I met was when I went for my alumni interview."
Though he applied to two other schools - Brandeis and the University of Michigan - his interest in both was nullified once he heard of his acceptance to MIT. Upon matriculating the following fall, Bacow had one ambition during his college years.
"When I came to MIT, my whole goal was not to flunk out," he said. "I knew that the standards [there] were extraordinary."
Once he got there, Bacow learned that such extraordinary standards also led to extraordinary competition.
"I was always interested in being a math major," he explained. "But once I got to MIT, I realized that there's a difference between being good at math and being a mathematician. I was the former."
After this realization, Bacow determined that his interest was in economics, much to his father's dismay.
"[My dad] was delighted that I went to MIT, but then I disappointed him because I majored in econ, when he thought I should study engineering," he said. "But he got over it."
Graduating in only three years, Bacow turned to one of his professors, Bob Solo, for guidance as to what to do next. Solo attempted to deter Bacow from applying to law school in order to continue his studies in economics at MIT.
"But what I couldn't tell Bob - at least not then - was that if I had done that, I would've wanted to be an economist like Bob, and I realized I didn't think I had what it took to be as good as he was," Bacow said.
But while he didn't yield to Solo's suggestion to remain at MIT, Bacow found himself continuing his academic life in Boston. Accepted to Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and eventually enrolling in Harvard Law School, Bacow again pushed the academic envelope by obtaining his doctorate in just three years.
But going to Harvard didn't yield purely academic achievement - it also instigated romantic success.
"I met Adele on the first day of Harvard Law School. We were fixed up by our roommates on a double date. I took her to a Greek festival in Watertown," he said. "The tickets were 50 cents."
And from then on, the rest, he said, was history.
"My roommate married her roommate, and they got married a week - to the day - before we did, and came to our wedding in Jacksonville, Fla. on their honeymoon," he said.
The Bacows were married the summer after the president's second year at Harvard Law and less than two years after meeting each other.
"The story gets even better," Bacow said. "I was living with three guys at the time, all named Alan. All four of us got married in the space of four successive weekends in June, and as you might've imagined, we're all still best of friends."
But before Bacow wound up at Tufts, he spent more than a quarter-century teaching at other academic institutions, and in some cases, lakes.
"I had spent my summers when I was in college teaching sailing in Michigan," he said. "That's when I realized I love teaching."
Aside from teaching, Bacow remembers that both he and Adele had displayed interest in moving to Washington, D.C. to pursue government jobs.
In a time of conflicting interests, Bacow approached his mentor once again in hopes of clarifying his future plans.
"I went back to Bob Solo to get his advice, and he said 'Look, the government will be there when you're ready to go work for them. But no matter what you do in the future, it will never hurt to have taught at MIT for a couple of years,'" he said. "So I took the job at MIT, and I stayed 24 years."
Bacow said he regards Solo's influence on his life to be tremendous and ever-present.
"Bob was sort of the not-so-invisible hand that kept nudging me along," he said.
And since arriving at Tufts, Bacow has used his past experience under Solo's guidance to establish similar relationships with many students here at Tufts. With faculty appointments in five departments, both in undergraduate and graduate studies, Bacow has made it his creed to sustain a presence on campus.
"Whether it's flipping pancakes for students during exam week, or attending student performances, [Adele and I] are definitely involved in campus life," he said. "We have a lot of fun with things at Tufts. Both Adele and I are making our operatic debuts with walk-on roles in 'Dido & Aeneas,' where I'm typecast as the drunken sailor, with Adele playing my wench."
If there's one thing, however, that Bacow wishes his students would see eye-to-eye with him on, it's his residence on campus.
"A lot of students don't think that we live in [the Gifford House], and I tell them to come out and see me at 6 a.m. when I'm getting my newspaper off our front lawn," he said. "We really do live here!"
