The defining role of Mary Rowe

• Published date: 01 May 2023
• Author: Howard Gadlin
• Date: 01 May 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/crq.21388

COMMENTARY

The defining role of Mary Rowe

Howard Gadlin

Ombuds National Institutes of Health, Retired Consulting Ombuds, Harvard Medical School, Consulting Ombuds,

Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Correspondence

Howard Gadlin, Ombuds National Institutesof Health, Retired Consulting Ombuds, Harvard Medical School,

Consulting Ombuds, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.

Email: howard.gadlin@gmail.com

Ontogeny recapitulates Phylogeny. Reading Mary Rowe's account of the early days of her career

I was struck by how her story also describes the emergence of the organizational ombuds field.

It is noteworthy that when Mary was appointed - not as an ombuds - but as Special Assistant to

the President and Chancellor for Women and Work at MIT, the field did not quite exist.

Although the ombuds role had been around since the early 19th century, it was mostly designed

to address citizen concerns about government malfunctions and mistreatment. The ombuds role

had not yet been adapted to organizations (corporations, colleges and universities, government

agencies) to address the issues of those who belong to or work in them. There was a scattering

of ombuds in a few universities but nothing that resembled any sort of professional association

and little communication among those designated as ombuds.

What is especially wonderful about Mary's story is that she reveals what she experienced

and learned as she was developing a program before there were any agreed upon standards of

practice or code of ethics. In that sense Mary was a true pioneer. The early ombuds knew that

we were not advocates for those who brought their issues to us, but also that we were not apolo-

gists for the institutions that employed us. We were expected to be attentive to issues of fairness,

but we had no formal power –no authority to make decisions or enforce rules. Indeed, we were

also expected to help address issues and concerns for which there were not, and could not be,

rules, regulations, or laws.

For me what is most noteworthy about Mary's story is that it illustrates how the shape of

her role developed through interactions and communications with MIT's leaders who were

interested in learning about and addressing the problems experienced by students, staff, and

faculty in their university. For those who know Mary Rowe it will not be a surprise that her

account of becoming the ombuds at MIT is built around acknowledging the importance of the

role played by others–initially the then president and provost of MIT, Jerome Wiesner and Paul

Gray, respectively. Mary's focus of attention has never been egotistical and even as an iconic

figure in the ombuds world, there is a certain modesty to the way she presents her ideas.

She tells us that the President told her to “Help each person, on a completely confidential

basis, as well as you think you can. Look for any idea or issue that is new, or that surprises you.

And Mary–make sure no problem ever happens here twice.”An ambitious mission to be sure

but not exactly a blueprint for how to accomplish it. Mary's dilemma parallels that of other

Received: 15 April 2023 Accepted: 22 April 2023

DOI: 10.1002/crq.21388

Conflict Resolution Quarterly. 2023;40:505–507. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/crq © 2023 Wiley Periodicals LLC. 505