A controversial analysis of what's ailing America's top colleges by the ex-dean of Harvard "whose knowledge of the subject vastly outstrips that of most commentators on higher education."( Washington Post Book World ) In Excellence without a Soul , Harry R. Lewis, a Harvard professor for more than thirty years and Dean of Harvard College for eight, draws from his experience to explain how Harvard and our other great universities have abandoned their educational mission. Harvard is unique; it is the richest, oldest, most powerful university in America, and so it has set many standards--for better or worse. Lewis evaluates the failures of this grand institution, from the controversy over Harvard's handling of date rape cases to the turbulent tenure of President Lawrence Summers. He also provides an intimate history of these struggles at Harvard, showing how its mission evolved from education to consumer satisfaction--and makes an impassioned argument for change. The loss of purpose in America's great colleges is not inconsequential. Harvard, Yale, Stanford--these places drive American education, on which so much of our future depends. It is time to ask whether they are doing the job we want them to do.