Yale is out shopping for a new president to succeed Charles Seymour Y '08, the incumbent, who announced last April that he will retire July 1, 1950.

At that time, Seymour said he was making the announcement over a year in advance so that the Yale Corporation may have "ample opportunity for studied consideration in the choice of my successor."

The corporation went to work right away with the appointment of a three man Committee on the Selection of a President, headed by Irving S. Olds Y '07, member of the corporation and chairman of the board of directors of United States Steel. This committee's recommendation will go to the full corporation for a vote.

As yet there has been no word indicating what names are being considered, but popular consensus around Yale points to Ohio's Taft brothers, Robert A. Y '10 and Charles P. Y. '18, as strong contenders, with Charles held the favorite.

Charles Taft

Charles Taft, a leading Ohio lawyer and political power in Cincinnati, has been one of Yale's most, active alumni for a number of years.

While some opinion sees heads of various preparatory schools around New England as possible choices, practically only one present university officer is mentioned as a logical candidate: Morris Hadley Y '16, member of the corporation and a New York corporation lawyer.

His father, Arthur Twining Hadley, was Yale's 13th president, between 1899 and 1920, and the first non-clerical president of the university. He is known as the "father of modern Yale."

Step by Stop

Seymour himself rose from the ranks; he was Sterling Professor of History, Provost of Yale, and Master of Berkeley College before becoming the 15th president in 1937.

Aside from these qualifications for the post, Seymour practically inherited the presidency. An ancestor, Joseph Colt, received an honorary degree at the first Yale commencement in 1702. His great-great-grandfather, Thomas Clap, was president of Yale College from 1740 to 1766. His great-uncle, Jeremiah Day, filled the same office between 1817 and 1846. His grandfather, Nathan P. Seymour, was a graduate of the college, and his father, Thomas Day Seymour, was Hillhouse Professor of Greek Language and Literature.

Local Man

Charles Seymour was born in New Haven on January 1, 1885, which brings him to Yale's retirement age of 65 next year. After graduating from Hillhouse High School (which also gave Yale its football captain, Levi Jackson) in 1901, he received a B.A. from Kings College, Cambridge University, England, in 1904. He then came to Yale for four years, getting his B.A. there in 1908.

He returned to Cambridge for his M.A. in 1909 and came back to New Haven for a Ph.D. in 1911. From then until 1915 he was a history instructor. In 1918 he was promoted from assistant professor to professor of history, and in 1922 received the Sterling Professorship. He was appointed Provost in 1927 and Master of Berkeley College in 1932.

He has received honorary degrees from Harvard, Princeton, Wesleyan, Columbia, Pennsylvania, Williams, Boston University, University of Hawaii, Western Reserve, Trinity, Rollins, and the University of Lyons, France.