Harvard searching for new president

In the sports world, teams steal each other's superstars all the time. But academia could see a similar switch as Harvard University searches for a new president -- and perhaps steals a top Penn player. University President Judith Rodin, as one of the most respected college presidents in the country, seems to be a natural contender for the job. But the Penn alumna has rejected the notion that she would leave to run the Cambridge, Mass. institution. "I have no interest in being named the president of Harvard," she said. "I think Penn is a more exciting place, with a much more entrepreneurial spirit, and I would not leave here for Harvard." Harvard President Neil Rudenstine announced his decision to resign in May and will officially step down next June. "I think [Judith Rodin] would be an obvious candidate," School of Arts and Sciences Dean Samuel Preston said. Still, Preston added, "I think it's unlikely that Judith would leave Penn for another university presidency." Engineering Dean Eduardo Glandt said Harvard is liable to look for the same things in its new president as Penn typically has. "I would imagine that they would want to see the same thing in that person as we would want to see at Penn," he explained, citing vision, scholarship and strategic thinking as crucial. "This is exactly what we want," he added. Last fall, Rodin signed a non-binding "letter of agreement" that indicated her intention to remain at Penn for at least the next five years. After the 1996 election, she was mentioned for various top government appointments, and it's likely that her name will pop up again after November's elections. Rodin is currently in her seventh year at the University, the average tenure for college presidents nowadays. The Trustees have raised her salary every year since she took the job, and Trustees Chairman James Riepe has attributed that to her consistently strong performance at the top of Penn's administration. The Harvard search is still in the early stages. In mid-July, the six-member Harvard Corporation, along with three overseers, was charged with identifying Rudenstine's replacement. "The search is absolutely wide open at this point," Harvard spokesman Joe Wrinn said last week. Wrinn added that the Harvard Corporation has not yet identified a top list of contenders, nor have any possible candidates been officially notified. The committee sent 300,000 letters to Harvard faculty, students, staff and alumni to get the Harvard community's take on who the next president should be. According to Bruce Alton, the senior consultant at the academic headhunting firm Academic Search Consultation Service, these searches typically last around six months -- and are just as likely to yield an internal candidate as an external one. "Anything's a possibility," he said. "It all depends on the person." In the past, many of Harvard's presidents have both come from within the university and graduated from Harvard, though Wrinn cautioned that a Harvard background was not a requirement. "It is not technically a requirement to have attended Harvard," he explained. "In recent memory, however, most have had some affiliation to Harvard." Speculations that the current provost, Harvey Fineberg, might be called upon for the job have already arisen. "I have no idea who the Ocandidates' are, but Provost Fineberg would naturally be mentioned; he has been very successful as Provost and is widely liked and respected," Harvard Assistant Provost Sarah Ward said in an e-mail. Whoever Harvard's president may be, Wald said they need to have vision and a proven record. Preston said that aside from the obvious qualities of diplomatic skills and vision, Harvard needs to look for a president with stamina. "Maybe one of the significantly most important elements is makeup," he said. "It's an extremely grueling job." "What's unique about Harvard is you are more in the spotlight than elsewhere," Preston added. And Alton summed up the candidates for Harvard's presidency as "God on a good day."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.