The phrase, academic freedom, asserts the claim that in the academy more than in other domains of American life unorthodox notions and unconventional behavior deserve special protection. In his book, Academic Duty, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1997 (310 pages), Donald Kennedy explores a new concept, Academic Duty, and applies this for both faculty and administrators.

Donald Kennedy, the former president of Stanford University, is currently a Stanford faculty member. In this role he offered a seminar for doctoral students who were planning academic careers. A survey of some (about 70) advanced doctoral students showed a high level of confidence about their future as research scholars. The survey also showed a high level of uncertainty and confusion about teaching, institutional governance, and other dimensions of an academic career. This book began as his notes for the seminar. As Kennedy notes, "The theme I have chosen�Academic Duty�is the counterpart of academic freedom, a concept endlessly raised for discussion in the university. Little is said about duty, partly because faculty work is relatively uncodified; in a sense universities are societies without rules�Responsibility suggests the duty one owes to the institution�and, first and foremost, to one�s students."

The book starts with a chapter about academic freedom and academic duty, continues with several chapters about academic duty including teaching, mentoring, service, discovery, and publishing. Appropriately, he concludes with a chapter on change, discussing why the university must change, why change is so difficult for the university, and how change will come to the university.

One thing seems certain: the university today is under attack from all sides. Kennedy examines teaching, graduate training, research, and their ethical context in the Research University; he explores the whys and wherefores of academic misconduct, be it scholarly, financial or personal. The one thing the university�s critics agree on is that academic institutions have to change along with the rest of society�or fail to fulfill their duty.

The modern research university began in the late nineteenth century and has become the system that supplies the nation�s professorate. Change of what they do and how they do it are not things universities do well. He notes that in some respects the changes have been meager. Kennedy notes that modifying higher education in America requires we change the way doctoral students are trained.

The faculty must be the central force in institutional change. They are the heart and mind of the university. Institutional commitment by faculty will require new ways of making faculty members feel responsible for the institution and its students.

Donald Kennedy, writing from a perspective few enjoy�President of a major research university for a dozen years�pleads his case for a central role for academic duty. He challenges us with his eloquently expressed views.