It is unclear whether Wilson will receive a Harvard faculty appointment in addition to the Radcliffe post. Under the terms of the 1977 "non-merger merger" agreement between Harvard and Radcliffe, the Radcliffe president is also a dean of the University.

Horner, an associate professor of psychology, has never received a tenured post at the University.

While both Scott and Minow have been characterized as "strong feminists," one Michigan administrator said Wilson was "not particularly a feminist."

Rather, Michigan administrators said last night that Wilson's primary concerns are administrative and research-oriented.

"She went into academic administration almost immediately," said one Michigan official, who characterized Wilson as "among the top half-dozen administrators" at the university.

And Robert Holbrook, associate vice president for academic affairs at Michigan, said that Wilson has been "involved in all decisions at the top level, [although] her primary role is encouraging research."

The Radcliffe appointment is "the next logical step for her take," said Andrew Nagy, who works under Wilson as the associate vice president for research.

Although Nagy said the decision was not common knowledge at the University of Michigan, he added that he had "recently heard some mumblings [around the office]."

Madhavi Sunder contributed to the reporting of this article.