Higginbothams may be leaving

Senior U.S. Circuit Court Judge and Law School Professor Leon Higginbotham and his wife, Associate History Professor Evelyn Higginbotham, may be leaving the University to accept professorships at Harvard University. Evelyn Higginbotham, who has taught at the University since 1986, said yesterday that although neither she nor her husband have officially accepted Harvard's offers, they are "planning on making official acceptances very soon." "We have not officially done anything," she said. "It's definitely something we're considering." Judge Higginbotham, who has been with the University for more than 25 years, was more oblique as to whether the two would be making the transition from the University to Cambridge. "I think that Penn is one of the great universities of the world," he said. "I'm happy here and I guess I'd be happy at Harvard." He said he has been offered full professorships in Harvard's School of Arts and Sciences, Law School and Kennedy School of Government. Evelyn Higginbotham said she has been offered a professorship in African-American Studies and African-American Religious History. Judge Higginbotham was recently a potential candidate for U.S. attorney general. Last month he withdrew his name from consideration, saying that he wanted to "spend my time on teaching and focusing on public interest issues which are of inmportance to me." At the time, he said teaching at the University definitely figured into his future plans. Both Higginbothams agree that they will have to make a decision soon, with Evelyn Higginbotham saying that the decision is "very imminent." During their time at the University, both have been involved heavily in University affairs, with Judge Higginbotham serving as a University Trustee and his wife serving as a mentor in the Mellon Minority Undergraduate Fellowship Program.

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