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Harvard University may soon name a replacement for departing President Neil Rudenstine, according to recent news reports. The six-member Harvard Corporation, which is acting as a presidential search committee, has drawn up a short list of candidates, The Boston Globe reported Tuesday. The finalists for the position reportedly include University of Michigan President Lee Bollinger, former United States Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and current Harvard Provost Harvey Fineberg. Rudenstine announced last March his intention to step down this June. Harvard spokesman Joe Wrinn refused to verify the reports. "I would assume that, in the six or seven months that we have been working on this, we would have been able to whittle down the list from 500 to a smaller number, but I cannot confirm and will not comment on any specific number or people," he said. Other candidates mentioned on a previous list may still be under consideration for the post, the Globe reported. "I am very honored to be on a short list with such distinguished people, but I remain very happy and proud to be Dean at Stanford Law School," Kathleen Sullivan -- one of the candidates mentioned earlier in the search -- said in a statement yesterday. Sullivan is a former Harvard Law School professor. Penn President Judith Rodin also had been mentioned as an early candidate, but she has said she remains happy in Philadelphia and is not considering the position. John Chandler, a senior consultant at the academic headhunting firm Academic Search Consultation Service, said he was impressed with the reported slate of candidates. "Truly, if that's the short list, I would say that Harvard is doing well," Chandler said. Chandler also remarked that the confidentiality surrounding the search is not uncommon and is important in high-profile searches such as this one. "People who would be seriously considered by any university like Harvard are almost always people who are widely known and public figures," he said. "It makes it very awkward because in the end only one will be chosen." While private universities like Harvard may opt to keep candidate lists secret, public universities are required by law to disclose the names of those under consideration. In those cases, Chandler said, candidates frequently withdraw from the applicant pool because of the publicity. At Michigan, Bollinger has most recently been in the spotlight for fighting lawsuits brought against the University of Michigan alleging that Michigan's admissions policies give preference to minority students applying to the Law School. Last month, however, a federal judge upheld Michigan's right to continue their affirmative action practices. Soon after Rudenstine's announcement last year, 300,000 letters were sent to Harvard faculty, staff, students and alumni, requesting nominations. From the 1,000 responses about 500 nominees were initially considered. Harvard hopes to come to a decision by the end of this academic year. Chandler said that a six or seven month search for a candidate was not unusual in a case such as this.

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