Corporation members dismissed the possibility of a female president. When asked in the early fall of 1970 whether a woman would be president of Harvard, one Corporation member smiled and gave a "salient, plaintive look best interpreted as 'Now, come on, get serious,"' The Crimson reported at the time.

On November 9, the lists were culled and combined until 69 names remained, with most public figures having been eliminated.

That trend stayed true as the search continued. Less than a month later, on December 2, a list of 23 candidates under consideration was released by the Corporation.

No public figures were included. If anything, the list appeared dominated by academics. It added a few scholars who had not previously been seen as strong candidates, including Bernard Bailyn, chair of the History Department.

The list of 23 also cut some prominent candidates, including Dean of the College Ernest R. May '59 and Archibald Cox '34, whose involvement with the Nixon administration and flamboyant method of troubleshooting made him unpalatable to many.

Those who did make the list of 23 included four other University deans in addition to Bok: John T. Dunlop, dean of the FAS; Robert H. Ebert, dean of the Medical School; Harvey Brooks, dean of the Graduate School of Engineering and Applied Physics; and Theodore Sizer, dean of the Graduate School of Education.

During this time, Bok's position continued to improve; he fit the profile of a desirable candidate extremely well. With deans making up more than one-sixth of the candidates, it was clear the Corporation favored internal administrative experience.

Bok received such high consideration despite a flaw in his bachelors degree--it was from Stanford. And dating back centuries all of the University's presidents had been graduates of the College.

About a week before his selection, Bok told The Crimson that he neither sought nor would be offered the job, but the Independent was already publishing reports that he had been chosen.

Bok was named President on January 11, 1971.

A New President

Bok was considered a top candidate for the position from the start of the search, although at 40 years of age, he was the youngest of the prestigious group in contention for the job.

Bok had the right politics, opposing Vietnam and generally seen as liberal-but-not-too-liberal. He had the right scholarly credentials, including many book titles to his credit. Most of all, he managed to work well with a conservative, faculty and a reform-minded student body, while making sure the Law School became academically and financially strong again.

He met the three qualifications many believed necessary for selection: he was an able administrator, a respected academic and a skilled labor mediator.

When Bok took over as Dean of the Law School, both the largest fund-drive in its history and a feud over curriculum were occurring.

Bok managed to settle the academic issues of the school by moving toward a pass-fail system and turning the fundraiser into the biggest success ever for the school, raising more than $15 million.