A Harvard Story

James Conway, ALB '85

James Conway, ALB '85, chuckles when he recalls the origins of the database system he created for Harvard's massive $2.6 billion capital campaign. "I wanted to call the new system Gorbachev, because it was designed to give each school independence from the central office, while at the same time making it possible for everyone to communicate"--electronic perestroika for an institution already famous for decentralization.

But the central office--Alumni Affairs and Development-- decided to name Conway's award-winning creation HOLDEN (Harvard Online Development Network), after the chapel in Harvard Yard that once housed Colonial troops, served as a firehouse and lecture hall, and was the first home of the Harvard Medical School. This acronym, it was thought, would better express the versatility of a computer network that could process 200,000 pledges per year, record 300,000 biographical changes for 600,000 donor prospects, and stay "awake" 24 hours a day, seven days a week for 300 Harvard fundraisers throughout the country.

In 1996 the industry journal Application Development Trends bestowed its highest innovator award on Jim Conway and his colleagues, writing that "innovators are those who are ahead of the crowd in trying a new tool or technique. It takes courage to be innovative, because innovators must take risks."

Jim Conway grew up in Everett, Massachusetts, north of Boston, where he graduated from high school as an honors student and class president in 1965. Unable to afford college, he enrolled in a small business school he found in the back pages of the Globe. He took a job as a computer operator at MIT after reading a magazine story about the future of computers in society. "Twenty years before anyone heard of information technology (IT), I got into electronic data processing (EDP)," Jim recalls. "And I worked on an IBM 1401 with 8K of memory--considered big then, but comparable to the smallest palm pilot today!"

By 1977 Conway had mastered data processing, programming, systems analysis, and project management. Having worked as a project leader for Moore Business Forms and W. R. Grace, he took a job with a small firm that faced a giant problem. New England Nuclear made radioactive pharmaceutical and research products, but had no way of assuring that the material in its labs was safe from theft. The company needed a way to secure and account for its inventory. Conway designed a computerized inventory control system that earned him a reputation as a problem-solver able to take computers into new areas of application.

Despite his career success, the desire for a college education was always on Jim Conway's mind. In 1977 he took action to realize his lifelong dream: "I began to attend Harvard Extension School in the evenings. I established a rhythm of work and study, taking two classes each semester. It was a very satisfying period in my life."

But Jim's idyllic life in Cambridge came to an abrupt halt two years later when DuPont acquired New England Nuclear and appointed Conway management information systems (MIS) director for its operations in Europe. To continue pursuing his dream of a Harvard degree, he had to petition for transfer credits from the University of Maryland, which offered programs on US military bases. This required further permissions from his employer and even NATO Command. But the dilemma was eased by the flexibility of the Harvard Extension School. "Thanks to Dean Shinagel, I was granted the chance to transfer 21 credits and continue my progress toward a college degree."

Jim and his wife, Pat, ALB '92, made the most of their three years in Europe, visiting Greece twice and acquiring a lifelong appreciation for classical civilization. On his return to Boston in 1982, Jim resumed his courses at Harvard Extension School, rediscovering just how rigorous a first-rate education can be. "I remember taking a Greek mythology class, and the term paper was returned with more corrections scribbled in between the lines and in the margins than the writing in the paper itself!"

Conway studied classical literature, art, and archaeology with two of Harvard's most renowned professors, Gregory Nagy and David Mitten. "I had the privilege of being in Greg Nagy's Concept of the Hero course the first year it was offered. Another fellow and I were anticipating graduation and asked Professor Nagy about the possibility of going on for a master's degree in classical studies. He explained that such a major did not exist at the graduate level, and that elementary Greek was only offered for undergraduate credit. But he spoke to Professor Mitten and the two of them created a new concentration for the Extension School's Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) Program. That fall, in 1985, Homeric Greek was offered for the first time for undergraduate and graduate credit.

With his bachelor's degree in hand in 1985, and with new responsibilities as international MIS manager for Nashua Corporation, Conway enthusiastically enrolled for graduate credit in the new Homeric Greek class. But his frequent travels made regular class attendence impossible. Once again, Professor Nagy came to the rescue, reserving his Saturday mornings at home to receive Jim's telephone calls--from Germany, Canada, and other parts of the globe--to cover the material his Extension School student had missed in class. "It was incredible," Jim recalls. "I will never forget his help."

In 1988 Conway was appointed director of alumni and development information services at Harvard. He inherited a staff of 28 and a mandate to upgrade the University's aging fundraising database system. Within five years the University announced the largest development campaign ever undertaken by an educational institution. Once again, Jim found himself in a familiar position--leading a complex organization to the cutting edge of information technology while satisfying the often conflicting needs of its members. With the appointment of Neil Rudenstine as president in 1990, Harvard reaffirmed its commitment to strengthen the connections among its schools and programs while respecting their historic independence. With the creation of HOLDEN, Jim Conway and his team provided a critical link in the realization of that goal.

In 1991 Jim and Pat Conway established the Conway Prize at the Harvard Extension School to honor outstanding instructors in expository writing. Conway's interest in the importance of writing dated back to his exposure to the "business writing" used by US corporations in the 1980s. In contrast to the elegant English used by many of his European counterparts--native speakers of French, German, Italian, and Spanish--this stripped-down memo-ese confirmed widespread suspicions of a decline in the quality of American education. By creating a prize to honor writing instruction at the Harvard Extension School each year, the Conways hoped to combat such a decline, to express Pat's love of writing, and to give something back to their alma mater.

Since graduation, Jim Conway has held many positions of leadership with the Harvard Extension Alumni Association (HEAA), most recently as chair of the Shinagel Scholarship Fund. "Whenever I think of the HEAA," he reflects, "I see our founder, Edgar Grossman, and feel honored to have known him and worked with him. His selfless contributions of time and funds helped the school flourish. Now we alumni and alumnae must honor Edgar's memory by continuing his work into the future."

In August, Jim left Harvard to become chief information officer for The Share Group, Inc. Share conducts fundraising and membership development campaigns for major nonprofit organizations. Meanwhile, he pledges to remain strongly connected to the Extension School and its mission.

"Our school is a priceless gem. Those of us who came to the ranks of the highly educated later in life are often the alumni(ae) who hold the deepest appreciation for Harvard and its gifts. My fondest memories are of Greg Nagy's classes, in which he unveiled the wonders of classical Greece. There will always be a need to balance knowledge of the heroes of the past with the sciences of the future. I hope that the Extension School, as it moves into computer-based distance learning, offering its riches to thousands of students via the Internet, will continue to embody this tree of knowledge, with its branches reaching to new realms and its roots remaining strong and deep."