<p>from today's NY Sun...
from a story in the Harvard Crimson.</p>
<p>"Prospective candidates to become the next president of Harvard University may be hurt along with their home institutions by the publication of the names of 16 of them on the university's list of potential nominees yesterday in the student-run Harvard Crimson newspaper.</p>
<p>They include the president of Columbia University, Lee Bollinger; the president of Amherst College, Anthony Marx; the dean of Harvard Law School, Elena Kagan, and Harvard University provost Steven Hyman.</p>
<p>Also on the list, which the Crimson received anonymously, are: Radcliffe Institute Dean Drew Gilpin Faust; University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann; Institute of Medicine President Harvey Fineberg; Tufts University President Lawrence Bacow; Stanford University Provost John Etchemendy; University of Cambridge Vice Chancellor Alison Richard; Princeton University President Shirley Tilghman; Howard Hughes Institute of Medicine President Thomas Cech; University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman; University of California President Robert Dynes; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute President Shirley Ann Jackson; Cornell University Provost Carolyn Martin; Carnegie Endowment for International Peace President Jessica Tuchman Matthews, and Washington University in St. Louis Chancellor Mark Wrighton."</p>
<p>Well, you can cross Larry Bacow right off. He's already answered to this Harvard presidency speculation by stating that his job as president at Tufts is his last before he retires. Plus, they pay him more here anyway. :-)</p>
<p>Addendum: I also really doubt the UPenn president would leave her post. She's treated like and seen as goddess over there for everything she's done for the school since she arrived. (Much as Bacow here at Tufts.)</p>
<p>If one were a total cynic (hey, that's me), one might conclude that this list was leaked deliberately so that Harvard can claim later that it seriously considered a large number of female candidates.</p>
<p>Actually, it would be more likely that Al Gore would get the job than Bill. You know, he was supposed to be president! (Tongue in cheek - have you seen his movie?)</p>
<p>I agree with Marian and Lolabelle. There is something fishy in leaking the names. Most institutions narrow there choices to just a few so that they don't have to turn down too many people. The short list should have only three people on it. Those are the ones who will be interviewed. It will be hard to keep their names secret if they have to go to Boston for the interviews.</p>
<p>Because she just started at MIT and is probably immoveable. Same with Lawrence Bacow at Tufts and Lee Bollinger at Columbia (who would not want to take the job for which he was passed over earlier anyway). </p>
<p>The list seems to be someone's wishlist rather than a real long short list. There are too many improbably names on it.</p>
<p>Yes, there are a lot of improbable names on the list. But it's hard to imagine that any of those people would reject a chance to be president of Harvard reflexively. It's just too unique a job -- the most prestige, the most resources, the best platform in the world. If you care about universities and higher education -- and I presume all of them do -- it would be silly to turn up your nose at it.</p>
<p>As for Gore vs. Clinton, that's silly, too. I don't expect either to be a candidate (not Harvard's style, exactly), but if that's the direction they wanted to go Gore's status as an alumnus would not mean much compared to Clinton's much higher lustre (and Clinton's much more extensive personal political skills -- he could probably play the various power centers there off one another better than any other person alive). </p>
<p>The one problem with Clinton: I don't know that anyone wants to put him in a community with 6-7,000 women 18-25.</p>
<p>Well, the names are not improbable in the sense that the people are unqualified. It's a very distinguished list.</p>
<p>But as several posters on this thread have pointed out, some of these people would be unlikely to leave their current positions. </p>
<p>Alison Richard would be an interesting choice. Although she is British and currently holds a post at Cambridge, she was on the Yale faculty for a long time and served as Yale's provost, so she certainly knows what's what in U.S. academia. And she is apparently an expert at university fundraising and financial management.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Bollinger said through a Columbia spokesperson that, "There is no circumstance I can imagine under which I won't continue to be here at Columbia for many years to come. I am fully engaged in and enthusiastic about working with our extraordinary students, faculty, staff, and alumni to continue the great momentum we've built here on so many fronts."
<p>Yes, I meant improbable in the sense of unlikely to seriously consider the job. I'm sure many will be tempted, for the reasons JHS mention; but only very briefly. The pay is far lower than what some of them earn elsewhere. Amy Guttman, for example, is one of the highest paid university presidents. A Harvard president probably does not even crack the top ten earners.</p>