Radcliffe Selects Acting President

Mrs. Helen H. Gilbert '36, chairman of the Radcliffe Board of Trustees, will serve as acting president of the college during President Bunting's leave of absence next year. Mrs Bunting was appointed by President Johnson last week to a one-year term on the Atomic Energy Commission.

Selected by the Radcliffe College Council at its monthly meeting yesterday, Mrs. Gilbert will assume many--but not all--of the duties now fulfilled by Mrs. Bunting. She will concentrate especially on soliciting contributions to Radcliffe and on carrying out the social functions of the presidency. Thus, she will act as hostess for the college and will work with the alumni.

"I am inordinately fond of Radcliffe," Mrs. Gilbert declared last night, "and will do what I can for the college to make it possible for Mrs. Bunting to fulfill a major job for the country."

Sharing the load will be Mrs. Wilma A. Kerby-Miller, currently Radcliffe dean for Graduate and Professional Women Students in Harvard University. As academic vice president, Mrs. Kerby-Miller will help to plan educational policy, and will sit on the Administrative Board of Radcliffe.

Two other officials--Mrs. Kathleen O. Elliott, Dean of Radcliffe, and Arthur D. Trottenberg, administrative vice president--will assist in working out any problems. The four-member committee will meet weekly during Mrs. Bunting's absence, though she will be consulted on any major decisions.

"I made a list of all my duties and we divided them up," Mrs. Bunting said yesterday. She predicted that the arrangement would work out very nicely, admitting however that some modification might be necessary eventually.

Although no Radcliffe president has ever before taken a leave of absence, it is customary at Harvard for the senior member of the Corporation--who corresponds to the chairman of the Radcliffe Board of Trustees--to take over for an absent president. Charles A. Coolidge served in this capacity during the leaves of President Conant and Pusey.

Mrs. Gilbert had been chairman of the Board since 1958 and served as a trustee for many years before that. Although she lives in Dover, she plans to maintain a room in the Alumni House where she will be available to undergraduates.