Roll Call: Scoping Who Will Choose the Next President

The Harvard Corporation released the names of the nine members of Harvard's presidential search committee, a secretive group of people who will meet through the fall and winter to choose the successor to Neil L. Rudenstine.

As in the last presidential search, the committee is comprised of members of both Harvard governing boards: the six Corporation members other than Rudenstine and three members of the Board of Overseers.

As in the past, the group does not include faculty or students, although members will consult the greater Harvard community through letters and meetings.

These powerful men and women work mostly behind-the-scenes, staying out of the public spotlight.

But when their work is done, these seven men and two women will have chosen Harvard's first leader of the 21st century.

Top Dog

Robert G. Stone Jr. '45, the chair of the presidential search committee, is one of the most powerful men at Harvard. As the Senior Fellow of Harvard College, he is a powerful voice on the University's most powerful governing body.

A man known for energy and zest, Stone often takes students to the Faculty Club for lunch when he comes to Cambridge for Corporation meetings approximately every two weeks.

Stone, former chair and CEO of the Kirby Corporation in New York, is known for his magnetic personality and will most likely have a strong influence on the committee's final choice.

Stone has been a major figure in two of Harvard's most recent fundraising projects, including the hugely successful six-year $2.6 billion capital campaign, in which he personally handled contact with many of the donors.

Charles P. Slichter '45, a former Corporation member who has served on two presidential search committees, said that his classmate is well-liked by those who know him.

"All kinds of people are at home with him," he said.

Stone has been a Corporation member for 25 years.

The Academics

Hanna H. Gray comes to her second presidential search committee as a Corporation member, with sound academic and administrative credentials.

Currently a history professor at the University of Chicago, Grey also served as the school's president from 1978 to 1993, the first female president of a major university.

Gray, an Overseer during the search for Rudenstine, has also served as the acting president of Yale University, and as the president of the American Council on Education and the Association of American Universities.

In addition to her "wonderful sense of humor," Slichter said Gray has strong connections in the field of academics.

"She just knows everyone in the upper levels of academic world," he said. " She has a tremendous first hand knowledge of people...you can call her a mensch."

Sharon E. Gagnon, president of the Board of Overseers, will have a long commute for committee meetings. A resident of Alaska, Gagnon is the former President of the Board of regents at the University of Alaska--she even has a street in Anchorage named after her.

Gagnon's familiarity with Harvard is well-established. She served as the president of the Harvard Alumni Association before becoming an Overseer in 1995. In addition, Gagnon keeps in contact with Harvard students from Alaska.

Those who have worked with Gagnon praised not only her intelligence but also her ability to work with others.

"She's just extremely diligent, measured and very sensitive to all the complexities," former president of the Board of Overseers Charlotte P. Armstrong '49 said. "She has an excellent sense of how a major university functions."

Though Gagnon lives thousands of miles from Cambridge, Armstrong said she does not believe the distance will be a problem.

"She's never missed a meeting and is always available," Armstrong said.

Overseer Thomas E. Everhart '53 rounds out the group of academics, serving as president emeritus of the California Institute of Technology.

Everhart, who is also a professor of electrical engineering and applied physics at Caltech, was elected to the Board of Overseers last June, making him a relative newcomer.

"He comes very highly recommended," Armstrong said.

Corporate Big-Wigs

D. Ronald Daniel is a veteran search committee member, serving on the Corporation as the University's treasurer. Daniel also chairs the Board of the Harvard Management Company, which oversees Harvard's nearly $15 billion endowment.

As a former director at McKinsey and Company, Daniel holds one of the most prestigious business jobs in the world and, according to Slichter, is incredibly intelligent and talented.

"He has the ability to see issues and define them," Slichter said. "He's so good at seeing where you've been and where you're going."

Academia is not foreign ground for Daniel, however. He is the former president of the board of trustees at Wesleyan University, his alma mater.

James R. Houghton, a member of the Corporation since 1996, is the chair emeritus of Corning, Inc. Most recently he has filled his time as the chair of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Houghton has a storied family history--his cousin built Houghton Library, located next to Lamont, and his great-great-grandfather manufactured the first light bulb for Thomas A. Edison.

Houghton is well-known on his own merits as well. An expert fundraiser, Houghton left Corning in 1996 to turn his energy to education and the arts.

Herbert S. Winokur Jr. '64-'65 is the youngest member of the search committee--the only one under 60. He received all three of his academic degrees from Harvard and continues to have close ties with the financial and academic sides of the University.

He sits on the board of the Harvard Management Company and is the former co-chair of reunion fundraising for the Class of 1965.

Winokur is the former co-chair of the New York Historical Society, an honorary director of the University of California at Los Angeles Medical Center and former chair and CEO of Capricorn Holdings.

Winokur also served in the army for two years after receiving his Ph.D. in applied mathematics.

Kingmakers

The last two members of the search committee don't specifically fit into the academic or corporate worlds.

Conrad K. Harper, a lawyer and partner at Simpson Thacher and Bartlett is one of two newest members of the Corporation.

A group that is historically white and male, the 350-year-old governing body made history this February when they appointed Harper as the first African-American member of the Corporation.

Earlier this year, Harper said that being first was merely a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

"There are many persons of color who might have had that distinction," Harper said when he was appointed.

Harper is a former legal advisor to the U.S. State Department and has served as the President of the Bar of the City of New York.

A known advocate for diversity, Harper may encourage the committee to seriously consider minority and women candidates.

Overseer Richard E. Oldenburg '54 rounds out the committee. Grounded in the humanities, Oldenburg is the honorary chair of Sotheby's North and South America and is the director emeritus of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

"He's got very well-honed executive skills," Armstrong said. "He is a thoroughly cultivated person and very sensible."