Timeline of the Presidential Search

March 21, 1991--The Harvard Corporation names Neil L. Rudenstine the 26th president of the University.

May 22, 2000--After a decade at the helm, Rudenstine announces his resignation, effective June 2001. He says the time is right to move on.

July 13--Harvard announces the makeup of the search committee that will find the University's 27th president. As in the search for Rudenstine, the committee is made up of the six members of the Corporation and three members of the Board of Overseers: Robert G. Stone Jr. '45, D. Ronald Daniel, Thomas E. Everhart '53, Sharon E. Gagnon, Hanna H. Gray, Conrad K. Harper, James R. Houghton '58, Richard E. Oldenburg '54, Herbert S. "Pug" Winokur Jr. '65.

August--The committee sends out a brief letter to 300,000 members of the Harvard community soliciting suggestions for the new president.

Early October--Members of the search committee sit down with Harvard's House committee chairs and leaders of the Undergraduate Council to discuss what students would like to see in the new president.

Oct. 13--Stone announces that the committee has compiled a list of 400 names of possible presidents. The list was compiled from more than 200 personal interviews and 1,000 letters submitted by members of the Harvard community.

Dec. 10--Stone reads a winnowed list of 30-40 possible candidates at a meeting of the Board of Overseers. Neither former Vice President Al Gore '69 nor former President Bill Clinton make the cut. Lee C. Bollinger, the president of the University of Michigan, Business School Dean Kim B. Clark '74, Provost Harvey V. Fineberg '67, Princeton Professor Amy Gutmann '71, Dean of Stanford Law School Kathleen M. Sullivan, Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers and Harold Varmus, CEO of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, are on the list.

Jan. 23--The search committee interviews Princeton Professor Amy Gutmann '71 in New York.

Feb. 4--The Board of Overseers and the Corporation meet for their regular February meeting and an update on the presidential search.

Feb. 18--The committee interviews Bollinger for the third time at a posh New York hotel.

Feb. 25--Search committee members meet in the lavish Boston Harbor Hotel for an afternoon of discussions on the search.

Feb. 26--Committee members meet at Loeb House with Fineberg and Rudenstine. Corporation members say that Fineberg was present at the meeting as provost, and that his presence was unconnected to search business.

March 9--The Crimson confirms that the search committee will recommend Summers to the Board of Overseers for approval.