The career of Ron Fox includes two senior appointments at the Pentagon, a panoply of books and articles, and two successful businesses. Yet as he reflects on the breadth of his accomplishments, one can't help noticing the warmth of his expression as he speaks of teaching at Harvard Business School. "I never got over the excitement of being in the classroom," he says.
Born and raised in Syracuse, New York, Fox attended Le Moyne College on a scholarship, graduating cum laude in 1951 with a degree in physics. He then served four years as a naval officer and nuclear specialist with the Joint Armed Forces Special Weapons Project. At the completion of his service, he followed the advice of a Navy friend and opted to attend the Business School. "It was the most demanding educational experience I've ever had," Fox recalls. "But by the end of my first year, I'd concluded that there was no other way to teach or learn that was as effective as the case method."
While a student at HBS, Fox became the prot©g© of Professor J. Sterling Livingston. "He had a profound impact on me that shaped much of my professional life," Fox says. First a student of Livingston's and then his research assistant after graduating in 1959, Fox was drawn to his mentor's interest in managing large defense projects. "He struck a chord with me because of the way he could identify and analyze complex problems, then develop implementation plans to solve them." In 1960, Fox started a consulting firm with Livingston known as Management Systems Corporation, working on projects such as the Polaris missile and submarine.
In 1963, Fox went to the Pentagon as deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for management systems. After two years, he returned to Harvard to pursue a doctorate in psychology, with time devoted each week to teaching a course on project management at HBS. It was a hectic but rewarding time of his life. "I felt as though I had two personas," Fox says with a smile. "I was a teacher at the Business School, and then I'd go across the river and shed my coat and tie to become a student." When Fox completed his Ph.D. in 1969, Dean George P. Baker offered him a full-time faculty position at the School.
Shortly after that, the Pentagon called again, this time asking him to be assistant secretary of the Army, the senior government official responsible for Army procurement, contracting, and logistics. He viewed this as an opportunity not only to serve his country but also to enrich his teaching and research, which focused on the management of large engineering development and construction projects. "It was the preeminent job in the field in which I was teaching and performing research," he recalls. During this turbulent time in the nation's history, the United States was beginning to phase down its involvement in the Vietnam War, and Fox was heavily involved in the planning.
Two years later, Fox resumed his academic career at Soldiers Field and completed the first of several influential books, Arming America, an exploration of military weapons acquisition that Fox says "described the actual process of doing business with the government at that time." After leaving the faculty in 1972 to immerse himself in a successful private venture, he returned to HBS for good in 1977 and became a full professor in 1982.
"The integrating activity of my teaching," Fox explains, "focused on marketing, organizational behavior, and control activities essential for managing large first-of-a-kind projects." The relevance of his teaching still resonates today, he points out, in major Defense Department and NASA projects, as well as large commercial undertakings.
Fox's work at HBS eventually branched out into important administrative appointments. In 1983, he was named to head the General Management area, which then included Business, Government, and the International Economy; Business History; Business Policy; Competition and Strategy; and International Business. "That was a time of reexamining and revising the required courses in that part of the curriculum," Fox explains. "In such a large area of study, there were many hiring decisions that had to be made. And with many young professors entering our ranks, I wanted to make sure they were mentored by faculty members with similar interests."
In 1986, Fox was named senior associate dean for Faculty Development, succeeding Professor Gordon Donaldson, whom he cites as another mentor and source of inspiration. Primarily responsible for overseeing the faculty appointment and recruiting processes, Fox set up a monthly forum designed to assist new faculty. "It's always rewarding when you become involved in people's lives and see them succeed," he says.
After the publication of Arming America, Fox continued to write extensively on the inadequacies of the military procurement process. In his 1988 book, The Defense Management Challenge, he estimated that nearly 25 percent of military spending could be saved without reducing the output of weapons and equipment. "Wasteful expenditures still occur," he points out, "because the Defense Department devotes so little attention to creating a professional corps of people trained to deal with these highly complex projects."
Professor emeritus since 1990, Fox tends to downplay what he has done, and he is quick to give credit to others. He says that his proudest accomplishment was to serve an institution that he feels gave so much to him. "I'm not sure I would have gone into teaching at any other place," he remarks. "Harvard Business School provided me with the chance to go out and study how things work and then bring those experiences into the classroom. The opportunity to work and interact with colleagues like Livingston, Donaldson, Dean John McArthur, and so many others whom I found inspiring and caring has been very significant in my life. That's what first made the School so special for meand still does to this day."
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