The Global Economy in Turbulent Times

CHAPTER 95 Has Undergraduate Education Lost Its Way?¹

The excesses since 2000, especially the latest financial meltdown from Wall Street to the City of London, and from Paris and Frankfurt on to the other end of Asia, Tokyo, have broken the public trust. Madoff-proof is the new byword. Yet, those responsible are educated in some of the finest and smartest global universities. It just doesn’t make sense. What went wrong? I know it’s always difficult to generalize. So, let me pick the best—Harvard University (okay, I am biased). Also, I happen to know more about the goings-on at this university than any other. I have been associated with it through a number of formal Harvard appointments as an active alumnus since 1993, both at the University in Cambridge and in Asia. As I see it today, Harvard’s challenges are not unique—they are as relevant to us in Malaysia as they are to the best British, French, German, and Japanese counterparts. In his insightful book, Excellence without a Soul, former Harvard College Dean Harry Lewis dwells critically on why today’s universities have lost sight of their core mission.² That Harvard teaches students but doesn’t make them wise.

Harvard College (its undergraduate wing) has an overarching role to educate students to be independent, knowledgeable, reflective, and creative thinkers with a sense of social responsibility. Toward this end, it should provide students with the knowledge, skills, and habits of mind to enable them to enjoy a lifetime ...