While stressing that he only had a "fragmented" conception of the job, he said he expected "to trim the job to manageable dimensions" and concentrate on delegating authority and on meeting students.

"My own feeling is that it is really terribly important that you be as open as you can be about what you're doing, be very careful about what you promise and that you break your back to fulfill the commitments that you do make-and in that way very slowly build up trust in at least a substantial number of students and faculty," he said.

Bok, who has known Kingman Brewster since his days as a student at the Law School, said that he met with the Yale president in New York City over the holidays. "He gave my wife and me an idea of what the life was like," Bok said. "I was certainly struck by the great interest an enthusiasm he had for what he was doing... which was critical for me."

Brewster was the first person outside the University to respond officially to the news. From Yale, he issued a short statement saying, "I may be prejudiced because Derek and Sissela have beenclose friends of ours ever since his law student days. It is a superb choice, not just for Harvard's sake, but for the sake of higher education."

Other statements of congratulation came from Roswell B. Perkins '47, president of the Associated Harvard Alumni, and President Pusey.

"I could not be happier for myself or the University," Pusey said. "Dean Bok has shown himself admirably equipped to cope with the intensified demands posed for administrative officers in these difficult times.

"He knows the institution and its people. He is sympathetic to student needs, intelligent, energetic, imaginative, good-humored, conscientious, resilient, and, not least, willing."

Bok, who had previously denied interest in the Presidency, despite his apparent front-running candidacy, said he had not spoken with the Corporation until a month ago. "My only concern was that they'd pick some Napoleonic figure who would want to get his fingers into the Law School," he said.

A Day In

The rest of the day for Bok was a rapid succession of appearances and questions and photographs.

After a short lunch (at which he ate tuna fish sandwiches, he said), he appeared at Holyoke Center with Burr and C. Douglas Dillion '31, chairman of the Board of the Overseers.

He sat in front of a bevy of microphones and a row of cameras as he answered the questions of the newsmen packed into the room. He used almost the same phrasing he had used earlier, describing his hope of stimulating enthusiasm among undergraduates while refusing to "shoot from the hip" on questions about the future status of women at Harvard or offer his opinion of the report of the President's Commission on Campus Unrest.

In response to a question about the future of experimental programs such as the Afro-American Studies program he said, "My preferences for expenditures lie very much along the lines of educational programs rather than buildings or facilities and things of that sort."

The press conference ended exactly at 3 p.m. when a reporter said, "Thank you, Mr. President."

Bok's next step may well be the touchstone for understanding his approach to the Presidency. He went immediately to find President Pusey and arrange an appointment for today, and then to the afternoon meeting of the Overseers in the Faculty Club.

"I figure they have the right to meet the fellow they've elected," he said as he left Holyoke Center in the company of Burr and Dillon.