Last Christmas Eve, the Thompsons and the Rudenstines revived a holiday tradition from winters past.

Whitehead Professor of Political Philosophy Dennis Frank Thompson and his family paid a visit to President Neil L. Rudenstine's house as they had done on many Christmas Eves at Princeton.

The Thompsons sang Christmas carols with the new Harvard president and his family. One of their favorite carols is "Good King Wenceslas," says Thompson's youngest son David.

Thompson, a top contender for provost, and Rudenstine are "excellent friends, probably best friends," says David, the 25-year-old manager of The Orvis, a Boston sporting goods store.

The two met in 1968 at Harvard, and both worked at Princeton from then until 1986. Thompson's wife, Carol, and associate dean of the Faculty, and Rudenstine's wife, Angelica Zander, are also close friends.

Clearly, Thompson satisfies an important prerequisite for the new University post: he gets along well with Rudenstine.

The 51-year-old scholar's record shows that he qualifies in several other respects.

As the founding director of the University's Program in Ethics and the Professions, Thompson has worked extensively with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Medical School, the Business School and the Kennedy School of Government.

Former President Derek C. Bok once said Thompson was the only person in the country qualified to run an ethics program, and it took him eight years to woo Thompson away from Princeton.

"He has probably as wide a sense of the University as any member of the faculty possibly could," says Price Professor of Government Robert D. Putnam.

Putnam, the former Kennedy School dean, says there was nothing but "praise for Dennis' integrity and his energy and his intellect" during a meeting of Harvard deans last year.

In addition to his faculty appointment, Thompson also holds a teaching post at the Kennedy School.

He has served on seven faculty committees--in the Faculty, the Kennedy School, the Law School and the MedicalSchool--since arriving at Harvard in 1986. And hehas been a consultant to groups in the BusinessSchool.

"He's highly respected across the board," saysDillon Professor of International Affairs JosephS. Nye Jr., who all but ruled himself out as acandidate for the job yesterday.

"He would make an excellent choice [forprovost], I think," says Nye.

Nye says Thompson's experience as director ofthe University-wide ethics program makes him"well-prepared" for the job of provost.

"He's a natural administrator....He is wise,he's evenhanded and he's fairminded," says AmyGutmann, an university professor at Princeton.Thompson served several terms as chair of thepolitics department there.

Gutmann and Thompson edited a casebook,Ethics and Politics: Cases and Comments,that is a one of the most widely used texts in thefield. Thompson has also written four books andpublished dozens of articles.

"He's not only a respected scholar," Gutmannsays, "he's someone who almost singlehandedlycreated a new area of scholarship, ethics inpublic policy."

Thompson graduated summa cum laude fromWilliam and Mary College in 1962, studies atOxford on a Fulbright scholarship, where hereceived a first-class honors degree inphilosophy, politics and economics, and received aPh.D. from Harvard in political science in 1968.

He then moved on to Princeton with a juniorfaculty appointment in the politics department. Hereceived tenure in 1972 and began his first termas department chair that year at the age of 32.

Thompson is currently teaching oneundergraduate course, Government 1095, "PoliticalEthics and Public Policy."

Colleagues say he is effective at mixingpractical application with abstract moral theory,and students say he is a good lecturer and tellsfine jokes.

His son David adds that Thompson has a passionfor music, especially classical and jazz. Hisfavorite jazz artist is Branford Marsalis, but"he's been known to put on a Dire Straits disc ortwo," says David.

Thompson doesn't just listen to music, though.He likes to play the jazz piano for his family--heplayed semi-professionally while in college--andused to get together with David and his other son,Eric, for jam sessions in their basement.

Thompson's most avid interest is wine. He has awine cellar in the basement and often goes towine-tastings with Assistant Professor of Law B.David Wilkins.

"I don't know of any other faculty member onHarvard campus or elsewhere who is more of anexpert than Dennis on wine," says Putnam. "Theonly thing he spends more time and energy on thanHarvard is wine.