It's Official: Summers

Lawrence H. Summers will be the 27th president of Harvard University.

The presidential search committee announced Summers' appointment on campus yesterday, just hours after the Board of Overseers confirmed his appointment in a hastily arranged New York meeting.

"It's good to be home. I accept," Summers said after search committee chair Robert G. Stone Jr. '45 introduced Summers to the crowd at a Loeb House press conference.

"We enthusiastically welcome him back to Harvard," Stone told the packed ballroom. "He is a person of extraordinary academic distinction, with a deeply rooted understanding of the University and its purposes, as well as extensive leadership experience on the national and international scene."

A grinning Summers then approached the podium as a wave of applause swept through the room.

Wearing a navy suit, white shirt and a crimson tie, Summers spoke for about 10 minutes before taking questions from reporters.

"It is with a feeling of excitement and exhilaration that I undertake the responsibility the Corporation has entrusted to me," Summers said in his opening remarks. "The opportunity for this university probably never has been greater."

Outside the ballroom, under the watchful eye of Harvard University police officers, almost 30 members of the Progressive Student Labor Movement demonstrated, protesting the secrecy of the presidential search process and demanding that Summers institute a living wage for Harvard workers.

Inside at the announcement, Stone also paid homage to current president Neil L. Rudenstine, thanking the outgoing president for his "extraordinary and selfless devotion to Harvard."

Summers will assume "the leadership of a strong and vibrant institution that is very well positioned for the future," thanks largely to Rudenstine, Stone concluded.

The press conference brought to an end a hectic day that had begun early yesterday morning, as members of Harvard's governing boards gathered at the Rainbow Room, a ritzy Rockefeller Center restaurant, to approve the search committee's choice (see related story, page 6).

Following the Overseers' approval, search committee members Stone, Sharon E. Gagnon, Hanna H. Gray and James R. Houghton '58, joined by Summers and University spokesperson Joe Wrinn, were chauffeured to Newark Airport around 2:30 p.m.

There they used Houghton's six-seat company plane to fly to New Bedford, where sedans whisked them to Loeb House on Quincy St. in time for the 5:30 p.m. press conference.

As Summers got out of the sedan at Loeb House, a first-year student approached him, congratulated him and asked for his autograph.

After the announcement the search committee expressed relief that the nine-month search was over.

"We all certainly learned a lot about the institution," Gray said, who described the whole process as "interesting" and "exhausting."

In the end, the committee was pleased with the shortlist it drew up of University of Michigan President Lee C. Bollinger, Harvard Provost Harvey V. Fineberg '67 and Summers--and especially pleased with Summers, their unanimous choice for president.

"Any one of the three finalists would have made a wonderful president," Houghton said. "It's just with the current circumstances, we wanted Summers."

"Summers will be a wonderful president. He really cares about undergraduates," Gagnon said.

Gray also expressed regret for the intense media speculation considering the candidacy of University of Michigan President Lee C. Bollinger, saying "it was the last thing [the committee] wanted."

""I felt badly for Mr. Bollinger. This is not a game of winners and losers," she added.

Today, the Corporation will hold its twice-monthly regular meeting in Loeb House. Summers will explore Cambridge, meeting with administrators and preparing to take control of the University.

"I expect in the next several months, before taking over the University, to visit Cambridge often to consult very widely. Before I do much more speaking, I'll be doing much more listening," Summers said.

The New Haven-born economist was the youngest tenured professor in Harvard's history in 1983.

Summers also received the John Bates Clark medal in 1993, an award given to the outstanding American economist under the age of 40. From 1999 to 2001 he served as the secretary of the U.S. Treasury.

Summers also has the distinction of being the first Jewish president of the University. He is a member of Temple Sinai on Military Road in Washington, D.C.

--With reporting by Joshua E. Gewolb in Cambridge, David H. Gellis in Washington, D.C. and Catherine E. Shoichet and Kate L. Rakoczy in New York City.

--Staff writer Garrett M. Graff can be reached at ggraff@fas.harvard.edu.