Chancellor Nancy Cantor was listed as one of 30 candidates for the vacant presidency of Harvard University, according to leaked information obtained by The Harvard Crimson last month.

A more recent report published by the Boston Globe did not include Cantor’s name as a remaining candidate.

From the beginning, Cantor had stated through a spokesman, that she was not interested in leaving Syracuse University and never considered herself a candidate for the job.

‘These lists come out of nowhere,’ Cantor said in an e-mail during fall semester’s final exams, ‘I am happily at Syracuse and am not a candidate anywhere.’

Cantor’s name appeared with an assortment of internationally-renown scientists, Ivy League presidents and high-ranking Harvard officials.

The Crimson, Harvard’s student newspaper, was given the names by an anonymous source following a December meeting of Harvard’s Board of Overseers, which has the final say in the presidential decision.

Kevin Quinn, vice president of Public Affairs at SU, did not give the list much credibility.

‘It is simply speculation by a newspaper,’ he said. ‘She is focused on being chancellor of Syracuse.’

A recent article in The New York Times discussed the skepticism often associated with such blunt denials.

‘It’s not different from Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama,’ Richard P. Chait, a Harvard higher education professor, told the Times. ‘Why don’t they just say: Yeah, I’m interested in being the president of the United States. People don’t say that. There’s a certain coyness.’

Harvard originally had a list of 100 names for consideration and will continually shorten its list as the search process continues. The list cited on Jan. 10 by The Boston Globe only included 10 names and is still unconfirmed.

The university plans to name its new president in March, according to The Boston Globe.

John Longbrake, senior director of communications at Harvard, declined to comment on an ongoing search.

Cantor said she has not contacted anyone at Harvard to make them aware that she is does not consider herself a candidate.

‘There is no real need to tell the institution (Harvard) anything,’ Quinn said. He repeatedly stressed that Cantor is not interested in the position.

Cantor is the first female chancellor in the history of SU. She succeeded Kenneth Shaw, now chancellor-emeritus, and is the university’s 11th chancellor.

Her express trip up the ladder of academia has included chairing the psychology department at Princeton University, serving as provost at the University of Michigan and, most recently, holding the chancellorship at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Two of the most controversial and defining moments of her academic career were her involvement in Michigan’s Supreme Court case concerning the use of affirmative action in admissions and her support for the retirement of the Native American mascot, Chief Illiniwek, at Illinois.

Harvard’s presidency became vacant earlier this year following the forced resignation of then-President Lawrence H. Summers. The renegade arts and sciences faculty and a sizable portion of the student body called for Summers’ resignation after he made controversial statements about the difference between males and females in mathematics and science.

A former Harvard president, Derek Bok, is ‘in-charge’ during the interim.

Harvard has never had a female president and only 27 men have held the office in the university’s 370-year history.

The position is regarded as one of the most prestigious yet grueling posts in the academic world. Harvard’s critical faculty, diverse student body and celebrated reputation make it more difficult than most university presidential posts.

Harvard is the ‘oldest institution of higher learning in America’ and has graduated seven U.S. presidents. It was ranked second, behind Princeton, in the 2007 America’s Best Colleges rankings by U.S. News & World Report.

The December list includes 11 candidates currently serving in top positions at highly respected universities. Besides Cantor, six other women from the academic community made the list.

Harvard’s recent focus on science, especially its privately funded stem cell research center, has drawn speculation that a scientist will be brought in to lead the university.

Current Harvard Provost Steven E. Hyman is a neurobiologist and would meet both the scientific and deep-Harvard tie criteria. He was listed as a possible candidate on both the December and January lists.

 

Published on January 14, 2007 at 12:00 pm