Roots

Rudenstine's family background is unusual for a Harvard president, most of whom have been of Northern European, Protestant origin. His father, who was Jewish, emigrated from Russia, and his mother is an Italian-American Roman Catholic.

Rudenstine attended the Wooster School, in Danbury, Conn., on full scholarship. He then attended Princeton College, graduating summa cum laude in 1956.

Rudenstine is the second Harvard president in the last few centuries not to hold an undergraduate degree from the College, once considered an unofficial prerequisite for the post.

As a Rhodes scholar, he spent one year reading history at Oxford University and then switched to English, eventually receiving first class honors in his field.

In 1964, he earned a Ph.D at Harvard. He then remained in the English Department for four years as an assistant professor and then an associate professor.

Lowell Professor of the Humanities William Alfred remembers Rudenstine as a skilled literary critic, commenting, "He had a wonderful, subtle sense of what makes a book really a book."

Colleagues also recall that Rudenstine distinguished himself at Harvard for his ability to negotiate with student protesters. They suggest that this was one reason why in 1968 the junior professor was offered a post as a professor and administrator at Princeton. After four years as a professor of English and dean of students, he became dean of the college in 1972.

Rudenstine continued to teach occasional English courses during his time as an administrator at Princeton. Since going to the Mellon Foundation, he has continued to lead a popular Shakespeare seminar for first-year Princeton students. He says that he plans to teach a freshman seminar at Harvard next spring.

Rudenstine's colleagues speak highly of his scholarship and teaching. "He's accessible and friendly, and has an obvious command of the material," said A. Walter Litz, a professor of English at Princeton.

Elaine Showalter, chair of Princeton's English department, said, "He's intellectually elegant, enormously courteous and has a tremendous analytical sense."

They also praise his skill at administration. While provost, Rudenstine was in charge of academic development and budget recommendations, as well as long-range financial planning.

"He is simply the most able academic administrator I have ever known or expect to know," said Rudenstine, even if they weren't all that concerned about who was given the post.

"He sounds better than Leder and Feldstein," said Cintra W. Scott '93. "I was happy to get someone in the humanities and I like that he's not the traditional WASP.