Harvard finally selects new president

Lawrence Summers, former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, has been chosen as the 27th president of Harvard University after an extensive search to find a replacement for current president Neil Rudenstine.

Harvard’s Board of Overseers approved Summers’ appointment this past Sunday.

In May of 2000, Rudenstine announced his intention to conclude his term as Harvard’s president on June 30, 2001, ending a decade of service to the University. Rudenstine’s announcement gave way to an intense nine-month search for a new president.

Several other candidates were considered for the position, including University of Michigan President Lee Bollinger and Harvard Provost Harvey Fineberg.

In fact, the initial candidate pool included nearly 500 names. Summers, a distinguished scholar and public servant, was chosen above his competitors due to his “deeply rooted understanding of the University and its purposes,” as well as his “extensive leadership experience on the national and international stage,” according to Robert Stone Jr., the Senior Fellow of the Harvard Corporation and chairman of the Presidential Search Committee.

Summers is a man with Harvard ties, having earned his doctorate there in 1982 before becoming a professor of economics at the University, and, in 1987, becoming the Nathaniel Ropes Professor of Political Economy. Summers remained at Harvard until 1993, and retained his avid interest in the school throughout his career in Washington.

“He always wanted to talk about Harvard,” said Richard Zeckhauser, a professor at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. “I’d say, ‘You’re really into interesting things. You’re bailing out Thailand.’ And he’d say, ‘How are things going at the law school.’”

Summers also taught at his alma mater, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, from 1979 until 1982, when he left to serve as a domestic policy economist on President Ronald Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers for one year.

Summers’ vast political experience also includes service as part of Gov. Michael Dukakis’ “kitchen cabinet” during the governor’s 1988 presidential campaign. He has also served as the World Bank’s chief economist from 1991-93, undersecretary of the U.S. Treasury for international affairs from 1993-95 and deputy Secretary of the Treasury in 1995.

Since the end of the Clinton administration, Summers has served as a fellow at the Brooking Institution. He is looking forward to what he calls “the third phase of my Harvard education.”

“I am honored by the opportunity to return to Harvard,” Summers said. “Working with faculty, students, staff and alumni, I look forward to helping the University extend its tradition of excellence in teaching and research while adapting to a rapidly changing world.”

“It was clear from our conversations with Larry Summers how much he cares about the educational experience of undergraduates, as well as the mentoring of graduate students and junior faculty,” said Sharon Gagnon, president of the Harvard Board of Overseers. “He is a teacher in the truest sense.”

According to Rudenstine, Summers is a “superb choice.”

“He is a brilliant scholar and a teacher who has always devoted exceptional time and energy to his students,” Rudenstine said. “He has a broad range of knowledge and interests that will serve all the faculties and other parts of Harvard well. And his experience around the world will enable him to give strong leadership to the University in an era when international and global affairs will continue to have a profound effect on our research, teaching and learning.”