Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether thesearch committee will be looking for a an insidervisible in university life--a sharp contrast tothe much-criticized and recently departed BennoSchmidt--or an outsider who could infuse ademoralized Yale with new lifeblood.
"All kinds of people could embody [thenecessary traits]," Matzke said.
Potential Candidates
Provost Rodin, 47, assumed Yale's number twopost just over four months ago. The former dean ofthe university's Graduate School of Arts andSciences, Rodin has a long track record at Yale,having served as professor and chair of thepsychology department.
In March of 1989, Rodin turned down an offer tobecome president of Radcliffe.
In an interview with The Crimson, Rodin refusedto comment on the search other than to acknowledgethat she had met with the search committee in hercapacity as a top university official.
"I'm working hard as provost and nobody hastalked to me about the presidency and I'm notthinking about it," Rodin said, adding that shedoes not expect a decision for several months.
Neither Brainard, a professor of economics andformer Yale provost, nor Calabresi, the law schooldean since 1985, would return repeated phonecalls. The 60-year-old Calabresi, a widelyrespected scholar and popular official at Yale,may be considered too old for the post.
Keohane, who was on the medium list for theHarvard presidency and is widely considered theleading female contender for any universitypresidency, would not comment on the search.
"[The Yale presidency] is not something that'son my radar screen at the moment," Keohane said.
Boren, a member of the Yale Corporation and thepresidential search committee, and Bush are bothconsidered long shot candidates for the post.
Dan Webber, Boren's press secretary, said thatthe senator "sees his role as being on theselection committee."
A White House spokesperson said that thepresident had no comment on the search. Bush hassaid in the past that he will move to Texas afterhe leaves public office and concentrate on "thegrandparent business."
Lamar Not A Contender
Yale's acting president, Sterling Professor ofHistory Howard R. Lamar, is not considered acontender for the permanent post. Lamar, 68,postponed his retirement to assume the actingpresidency when former president Benno Schmidtretired.
"He has said that he would be willing to stayin the position as long as was needed but that hewanted to move back into retirement as soon as wasconvenient," Matzke said