Christine Heenan, Harvard vice president of public affairs and communications, also stresses that Harvard will be sorry to see Healy go, describing him as “direct, fair, tough.”

Cambridge Public Works Commissioner Lisa Peterson, who has worked with Healy for 21 years, echoes those sentiments, but she also tempers them by emphasizing Healy’s encouraging nature, describing him as “very supportive”.

“When you go and talk to Bob about a proposal, you need to make sure you have all your information and have done your research,” she says. “He’s very fair-minded.”

Though he is an exacting boss, Healy demands an equal, if not higher, standard of himself. “He works very hard to understand the issues, and he has almost an encyclopedic knowledge about Massachusetts government laws,” says Robert P. Reardon, the director of the Cambridge Assessing Department. “He takes the opportunity to listen to everyone and get a full understanding of an issue from all different perspectives.”

Russell adds that Healy, whom she describes as “scrupulously honest,” was also willing to spend time explaining those issues to his co-workers.

When necessary, he pitched in not just in conversation but on the streets.

Peterson recounts that when a water main in East Cambridge ruptured in 2005, Healy plunged in to help instead of just delegating the clean-up.

She remembers Healy wading across the flooded street with rainproof footgear up to his thighs. “He can be a very hands-on person,” she says. “I think he’s really enjoyed that part.”

Reardon seconds that sentiment. “He’s very competent, and he definitely gets involved in the action.”

Noting that Healy “can be quite funny at times,” Peterson says he has an emotional side that is not always apparent while he handles city business. She points to the dedications of the Robert W. Healy Public Safety Building and the Robert W. Healy Scholarship as moments when Healy displayed such emotion, saying he was “enormously moved, enormously touched,” to have his contributions to the city recognized publicly.

Looking back on his tenure, Healy says he is gratified by the city’s current prosperity. “I am proud to say that this really is, I think, acknowledged as a good place to live, a good place to raise children, a good place to retire.”

—Staff writer Mercer R. Cook can be reached mcook@college.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Maya S. Jonas-Silver can be reached at mayajonas-silver@college.harvard.edu.