windfall from the late Coca-Cola magnate Robert W. Wood-
ruff and its private status. In return, Carter was awarded
the special status of university distinguished professor,
which carries no specific course load but allows him to
choose the classes he wishes to attend as guest lecturer two
or three days a month. Carter has spoken with M.B.A.
candidates about deregulation and to theology students
about the involvement of ministers in public affairs. He also
gives an annual lecture to second-year medical students on
the relationship between government and medicine.
Carter takes his concentrated teaching duties quite seri-
ously. On one recent occasion, the former president ad-
dressed law students on regulatory issues that had arisen
during his presidency. "The detail with which the class went
into the subject was extreme," says Carter aide Steven H.
Hochman. "As president, it was true that he was responsible
for these issues, but in most cases he would be advised by the
attorney general. He had to prepare more for that class than
he would have had to know as president." Carter confesses
that such classes, together with a schedule of "public meet-
ings," breakfasts, lunches and dinners, leave him "really
exhausted." "It's almost more than I can handle in one day,"
he says, "but I'm not complaining. I kind of asked for it, and I
approve the schedule ahead of time. So when I do go I cram
as much as I can into the days."
Brzezinski is a busy man. His
T he Power Players: Zbigniewmyadpbiadprvt --
myriad public and private
responsibilities limit him to
just one day a week of
teaching at Columbia, where he was
a professor before becoming Jimmy m yI
Carter's national-security adviser.
Still, his students seldom complain.
Unlike many professors who have
never left the campus, Brzezinski
conveys something of the ten-
sion of real-life policymaking. "He
demands a coherent strategic vi-
sion that is effective and hard
hitting," says law student Fred
Reinke. "It was a great class," adds
23-year-old Julia Klare of Brzezin-
ski's graduate seminar. "He was a
great professor. It's probably one of
the best classes I had at Columbia." Feeling more alive: S
Few students seem to mind that other obligations limit
Brzezinski to just one office hour a week. "A lot of other
professors are located here and they're just as inaccessible,"
says Ph.D. candidate John Baker. "There's a general prob-
lem at Columbia of many students and a very overcommit-
ted faculty." Brzezinski is always well prepared for his
classes and seems committed to his students. He writes a
personal note congratulating every student to whom he
gives an A. He is also dedicated to Columbia. He personally
requested that his salary be lowered so as not to engender
jealousy among other professors. Nor is he above parading
himself before potential donors. "I will make a couple of
appearances a year," he says. "I sort of have an understand-
ing with the university."
Jeane Kirkpatrick is busy as well. The former U.S. ambassa-
dor to the United Nations enters her office at Georgetown a
little the worse for wear, the victim of both a cold and her
own imposing workload as a teacher, newspaper columnist
and resident scholar at the conservative American Enter-
prise Institute. "I've always admired the British and French
tradition of the man or woman of letters who manages both
scholarship and commentary on events of the day," she
insists. But rather than bringing her personal experiences
into the classroom, says government major Dennis Roche,
Kirkpatrick has a reputation for al-
lowing her classes to become "really
boring." "She was rarely prepared,"
adds Suzanne Connolly, another gov-
ernment major. "People would liter-
ally get up and leave in the middle of
her lectures."
he Showman: Stephen Jay
Gould is a natural showman.
During his ambitiously ti-
tled lectures on the History
I of the Earth and of Life, he
digresses on Mickey Mouse, science-
fiction movies and baseball trivia. In
one famous lecture a teaching assist-
ant walked onstage carrying an enor-
mous sawhorse with toothpick legs.
The contraption collapsed when set
down on the floor-an example of the
constraints of evolution. The profes-
LARRY MURPHY-UT AUSTIN sor has little tolerance for those who
entist Weinberg dispute his views. He is particularly
ci
10 NEWSWEEK ON CAMPUS
SEPTEMBER 1987