The Presidency, Pending

Feverish speculation notwithstanding, the Corporation did not use its regularly scheduled meeting with the Board of Overseers during the first weekend in February to present the search committee’s selection for Harvard’s twenty-eighth president. Gossip had increased on January 31, when Nobel laureate Thomas R. Cech, president of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, called the Crimson to announce that he had “withdrawn my name from consideration” for the post. On Saturday night, February 3, the Lampoon broadcast an e-mail announcing “the reinstatement of Lawrence H. Summers as Harvard’s once and future president,” and then a follow-up, nominally from College dean Benedict H. Gross, declaring the first message a hoax and saying that Law School dean Elena Kagan had been chosen instead.

Update:
Historian Drew Gilpin Faust was named the twenty-eighth president of Harvard University on February 11.
See "Crossing Boundaries"

Whenever the appointment is made—before this issue of the magazine reaches you or after—complete coverage will appear at www.harvardmagazine.com.

Click here for the March-April 2007 issue table of contents

Most popular

House Committee Subpoenas Harvard Over Tuition Costs

The University must turn over all requested materials related to tuition and financial aid by mid-July. 

The Professor Who Quantified Democracy

Erica Chenoweth’s data shows how—and when—authoritarians fall.

In Federal Court, Harvard and the Government Have Friends

A look at the amicus curiae briefs in Harvard’s funding case

Explore More From Current Issue

Garber, Trump, and the Fight for Harvard’s Future

Introducing a guide to the issues, players, and stakes.

Filmmaker John Armstrong’s Adventure Documentaries

Filmmaker John Armstrong’s “outdoor adventures” find the human spirit.

New Harvard Overseers and HAA Directors

Alumni showed increased interest in this year’s elections.