<p>
prodigalson:
Harvard and Princeton must be shaking in their boots. Ironically, since Guttman studied at one and taught at the other, if either came calling, she’d run back faster than you could say “Philly Cheesesteak.”
Actually, Harvard DID come calling, and she declined in favor of staying at Penn:</p>
<p>
"She [Drew Gilpin Faust] really has the potential for being a very wise and successful president, said Amy Gutmann, the president of the University of Pennsylvania, who was herself among several dozen potential candidates for the Harvard presidency whose names became public in December.</p>
<p>Complex institutions need wise leaders with vision who can inspire collaboration for change, said Dr. Gutmann, who had said repeatedly that she intended to remain at Penn.
</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/business/08cnd-harvard.html[/url] ”>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/business/08cnd-harvard.html</a></p> ;
<p>
Sometime in the fall, Gutmann, who had taken the helm of Penn just two years earlier, told the committee in person that she was not interested, according to one of the sources. On a separate trip to Cambridge in early October, she met with Faust, an old friend, over lunch at Upstairs on the Square. Soon after, Gutmann told the committee she supported Faust, the source said.
</p>
<p>[The</a> Ascension of Faust | The Harvard Crimson](<a href=“http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2007/6/6/the-ascension-of-faust-on-super/]The ”>The Ascension of Faust | News | The Harvard Crimson )</p>
<p>As any experienced Gutmann-watcher knows, she is much more excited by her zealous mission to move Penn “from excellence to eminence,” than she would have been by being merely the latest in a centuries-old line of presidents of long-eminent Harvard.</p>
<p>But fortunately for Harvard, a woman who earned her graduate degrees and taught for 25 years AT PENN , was available to become its first female president. :)</p>