After considering more than 400 candidates--the vast majority of whom were University outsiders--President Neil L. Rudenstine yesterday named a known-quantity and a 14-year Harvard veteran, Anne H. Taylor, as the University's new Vice President and General Counsel.

Taylor, 51, is the fourth female vice president and replaces Margaret H. Marshall, who joined the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts in November.

Taylor has served as acting general counsel and practice coordinator since Nov. 1 and said she was "delighted, a bit stunned and very excited about the new challenge," calling this her "biggest success."

The Harvard Corporation, the University's highest governing board, confirmed Rudenstine's appointment at its meeting yesterday. Taylor "got a great round of applause" when she was introduced at a joint meeting of the Corporation and Board of Overseers yesterday afternoon.

Her area of expertise is labor and employment law. She has served as associate vice president for human resources at Harvard and as a staff attorney for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), but in recent years she has become a "generalist" in handling a variety of controversies both internal and external to the University.

Besides what her colleagues called "eminent" legal skills, Taylor brings a knowledge of the "nooks and crannies" of the University, which observers say will prove an enormous benefit to both Harvard and herself.

"You have to know your client, and certainly the more you know about your client, the more capable you are of rendering good advice to that client," said Frank J. Connors, a University attorney.

She received personal praise from her colleagues as accessible, sensitive and compassionate.

"If there's one attribute I would point to besides her intelligence, it's her popularity across the University," said James H. Rowe III '73, vice president for government, community and public affairs.

"She immediately grasps the legal--and the human--side [of an issue]," said Harvey V. Fineberg '67, dean of the School of Public Health and incoming provost.

In her tenure at Harvard, Taylor has handled some of the most controversial legal matters facing the University, including the Dunster House murder-suicide, the Evening With Champions embezzlement scandal and a number of scientific misconduct cases. She has worked to build consensus between feuding parties within the University, interacting closely with deans and other department heads.

Taylor helped the University face the formidable legal challenges posed by the creation of the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers in '87-'88. She is currently involved with the U.S. Agency for International Development as it investigates alleged misconduct by officials in the Harvard Institute for International Development.

"It is important to recognize that the general counsel is someone who provides counsel, who is an important counselor," said Provost Albert Carnesale. "[Taylor] has excellent judgment, provides outstanding counsel and takes a problem-solving approach to legal matters."

Sources say Taylor was reluctant to consider the position, and only let herself become a candidate two months ago--five months after the search began.

"She wanted to do [the job of acting general counsel] and didn't want to muddy the waters by seeming interested in the job," said Marshall in an interview yesterday, adding, "To me, that's an example of her excellent judgment."

Taylor said she was "uncertain" at first, but her interest "evolved" after she found she enjoyed the position.