As general counsel, Taylor will supervise an office of 11 attorneys as well as the Harvard University Police Department and security guards. She will also oversee work done by outside attorneys.

While nationally recognized in her field, Taylor has avoided high-paying positions with private firms, choosing instead to work in the public sector and academia.

"Part of my job was to make sure she wasn't recruited [away] from Harvard," joked Marshall, referring to Taylor as a "star in the field."

Besides her work with Harvard and the NLRB, Taylor taught law at Boston College Law School and was the general counsel both for the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination and Office of Inspector General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

If Marshall's record is any indication, Taylor will continue to handle a wide variety of legal issues, including allegations of discrimination, academic misconduct and student issues.

Taylor graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude from Connecticut College in 1968. She received her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1973.

Taylor has two daughters, one in college at Bryn Mawr, and is married to Martin Michaelson, a former University attorney