The Nutty Professor

Robert Kiely was never the typical Harvard professor--obviously.

He was, after all, the one visible administrator to stand outside University Hall after the 1995 randomization announcement, protesting alongside his students.

"The least diverse of our Houses are more than 100 times as diverse as University Hall--diversity is a relative matter," he told the crowd. "So you wonder, who are they to tell you to be diverse?"

He acknowledges today that he has been "a thorn in the side of U-Hall."

Whether he was ignoring College rules by smoking in the dining hall, turning a blind eye to after-hours skinny-dipping in the House pool or drinking Irish coffee at one of his Masters' teas, Kiely as a person, many say, managed to carry off the role of rebel with the utmost sophistication and panache.

At once a distinguished scholar in literature (he's published several books and is a regular contributor for The New York Times Book Review), Kiely is also the master who dressed up as a nun at drag night to sing "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?" from The Sound of Music. On one hand, he is half of the debonair couple that always makes a splash at House waltzes and swings, and on the other is an enthusiastic participant in the festivities of St. Patrick's Day, serving Black and Tans and step dancing.

He was, as Farai Chideya '90, now an ABC-TV correspondent, fondly recounts, "the classy side of the craziness--the cool dad you never had."