Maskin said Wednesday he had spoken to Whinston and that Whinston has not yet decided to join Northwestern's faculty permanently nor has he resigned from Harvard.
Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles declined to comment.
Philip S. Khoury, dean of the MIT's School of Humanities and Social Science, said that MIT had been in the process of offering a tenured position to Honig, although "no final decision" had been made.
The selection process came to a halt when Honig informed MIT that she was accepting the Northwestern post.
Khoury is still "guardedly optimistic" that Honig may decide to renew her interest in MIT if things don't work out at Northwestern, or if Honig and Whinston decide they like the Cambridge area better.
"It's a very complicated situation for Honig, especially after all that she's been through," Khoury said.
Honig and Whinston did not return phone calls this week