Charles Lepani discusses the time between when he was appointed to the National Planning Office and when he returned from further study at Harvard as bookends to an era. He relates how he resigned from his position as head of the Office, but not from the public service when he went to Harvard in 1980 to study for a Masters at the Kennedy School of Government and that on return he was informed by Julius Chan that he was no longer required. He states that he established a consultancy firm for 8 years followed by time at the Pacific Islands Development Program at the University of Hawaii.