What Duke can learn from retiring ex-president Ricardo Lagos

When you think of Duke’s notable alumni, who comes to mind? Maybe it’s Tim Cook, CEO of Apple. Or Melinda French Gates, the co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. You might picture basketball legend Grant Hill or comedian Ken Jeong. 

Ricardo Lagos, the former president of Chile who retired from public life last month, probably isn’t on your list. But maybe he should be.

In Duke’s 100-year history, only two alumni have gone on to become heads of state. One is Richard Nixon, whose 1937 J.D. from Duke Law most students would rather forget. The other is Ricardo Lagos, a largely overlooked alumnus whose life should inspire Duke students, faculty, staff and alumni throughout the next 100 years.

Ricardo Lagos’ Legacy

Lagos obtained his Ph.D. in Economics from Duke in 1966. Boundaries between disciplines and careers were less strict back then; even while writing his Duke economics dissertation, Lagos taught as a visiting political science professor at UNC-Chapel Hill. He would spend the following two decades applying his expertise to where it was needed most, whether it be government, academia or the United Nations.

When the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet came to power in 1973, Lagos and his family fled to Buenos Aires. But he later returned to Chile, risking death by publicly criticizing Pinochet on national television and leading the campaign for democracy. Though Lagos would have attracted massive support in the subsequent elections, he instead backed Patricio Aylwin, who was better positioned to negotiate a peaceful transition from authoritarianism.

Lagos spent the next 10 years in cabinet roles before running successfully for president in 1999. Lagos’ moderate governing style surprised many voters who feared radical change from the Socialist Party leader. But Lagos was an institutionalist above all else, and his careful balancing of market-oriented policies with a strong social safety net placed him firmly in the tradition of Chile’s post-1990 consensus. He left office in 2006 with an approval rating around 70%.

In the years following Lagos’ departure from office, Chile maintained its strong institutions, but cracks emerged. Presidents Michelle Bachelet and Sebastián Piñera alternated in power for 16 years, exacerbating political polarization. When Lagos launched a new bid for president in 2017, the country and his coalition had moved on: He garnered only 5% in polls before bowing out.

The most significant ways for Duke to put knowledge in the service of society are not through one-off programs, but rather through encouraging Duke alumni toward careers where they can make a difference and incentivizing Duke faculty to produce research with real-world relevance. 

Neither front looks promising.

Around 30% of the Duke Class of 2022 opted for a career in consulting or finance — in line with figures from other elite colleges. For newly minted graduates, consulting and finance offer a prestigious path of least resistance. Even when students are making the best choice from an individual perspective, an alumni class of Goldman Sachs analysts and McKinsey associates hardly contributes to Duke’s mission of knowledge in service to society — whatever the benefits it might offer for the university’s fundraising goals.

When it comes to encouraging research with practical significance, Duke faces additional challenges. Foundations, philanthropists and governments invest in scholarly research because they believe it will make the world a better place. Medical science helps us live longer, healthier and happier lives. Civil engineering helps us build more affordable, more sustainable and safer structures. The social sciences offer insights that allow policymakers, organizations and individuals to make better decisions.

Through their appointment, promotion and tenure policies, Duke administrators set a framework that can either encourage or discourage faculty from exploring the real-world implications of their work. These policies should not force academics to explore practical research topics or share their findings with a mass audience. Many research papers simply do not have practical implications but are still valuable. Others involve preliminary or contradictory results, and widespread circulation risks overstating the evidence. At the same time, however, Duke should reward scholars who want to share their findings more widely — especially when these findings could have real-world implications.

Duke’s current tenure framework does the opposite. In most departments, the most important factor in determining tenure is the number of peer-reviewed publications a junior professor has written. This publish-or-perish dynamic does not count articles written for a mass audience. It does not count time consulting for nonprofits or private industry. A book published with an obscure academic press will help an aspiring full professor, but a bestseller that shapes major policy decisions? Forget about it.

Certain departments are taking steps in the right direction. Duke’s political science department stands out among political science departments at elite colleges for encouraging public-facing engagement. The Sanford School’s Embark Program does excellent work helping students identify alternative career paths in public service. Both offer models for how the university can rededicate itself to knowledge in the service of society.

Learning from Lagos

Ricardo Lagos graduated from Duke at a time before publish-or-perish, before academic disciplines became as siloed as they are today, before the rise of on-campus recruiting. He weaved between sectors and disciplines before being elected as president, leaving a social impact greater than even the most successful consultant, banker or tenured faculty member. 

Very few Duke graduates will have the tremendous legacy that Lagos was able to achieve. But over Duke’s next 100 years, we should aspire to the qualities that Lagos reflected. We should build institutions and cultures that encourage public service. And we should be more willing to take risks in our own careers that reflect our values.

Robert (Bo) Carlson (T’20 Political Science and Economics) is a current master’s student at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where he focuses on Latin America.