Dean of a School Divided

As a correspondent for the New York Times, and later for NBC, Elie Abel has often found himself at the flash points of the world. He covered the Nurnberg trials, the Hungarian Revolution, two presidential campaigns and the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. But last week Abel, 49, received what may well be his toughest assignment: he was appointed dean of the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, the best in the field, but a school divided.

Beginning Feb. 1, Abel will preside over a faculty embittered by more than a year's debate over a successor to Edward Barrett, the former dean. Barrett resigned after the turbulent student disorders of 1968, protesting "authoritarian rule by remote, inaccessible powers" at the university. He left behind a faculty factioned between traditional and innovative journalism. When a largely conservative search committee proposed Abel for the deanship last June, rebellious professors overwhelmingly voted it down, citing "lack of consultation" and "undue haste in appointing a man we know little about." But Columbia President Andrew Cordier, prodded by the traditionalists, overrode the faculty and went ahead with the appointment.

An alumnus of the school, Abel comes to academic life from a two-year stint as NBC's diplomatic correspondent in Washington. With the faculty dispute awaiting him, the training should come in handy.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.