Leadership under stress
NEW YORK — Amid the smoke and flames of kamikaze attacks on the USS Intrepid during World War II, Harvard graduate Charles Devens led firefighting crews that saved the ship. Amid the smoke and fire of last year’s Boston Marathon bombings, Harvard Business School student and U.S. Army Col. Everett Spain ran toward the chaos and helped save three victims with horrible wounds. Leadership under fire and decision-making under stress were invoked, praised, and perhaps slightly demystified on Wednesday evening during an event that brought 600 University alumni a taste of Harvard’s campus today, even as it urged them to consider the Harvard of tomorrow. “Lt. Devens led,” said Harvard President Drew Faust, whose speech described his and Spain’s heroics. “Amidst fire and smoke and explosions, he led. Amidst uncertainty and danger, he led. Like so many Harvard men and women before and after him, he led. It is one of the...