Jan. 5, 1986
Harvard and the C.I.A.
After an investigation into his acceptance of research money from the Central Intelligence Agency, Nadav Safran will resign as head of Harvard's Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the school said last week. In a report, a Harvard dean blamed the university itself for failing to act when Mr. Safran first informed it of a $107,430 C.I.A. contract to help finance a book on Saudi Arabia.
The deal contained restrictions - the agency had the right to review the book - that violated Harvard's rules on research sponsored by outside organizations. But the dean also said the professor had been wrong not to disclose that the C.I.A. had provided money for a conference, too.
Mr. Safran, who will remain as a tenured professor, said he viewed the C.I.A. ''like any other source of funds.''