Finally, alumnae and potential donors are likely to insist that the new dean be firmly committed to women's and gender studies, or as former Radcliffe President Linda S. Wilson liked to put it, "advancing society by advancing women."

Few candidates are likely to clear such a high bar.

The gold standard might well be political philosopher Nannerl O. Keohane. The editor of Feminist Theory: A Critique of Ideology (1982), she's published widely about feminism and has administrative experience to boot--she's the president of Duke University.

But of course, Keohane already has a job. With an endowment of $1.4 billion as of last June, Duke has four times the resources of the new Institute. What's more, Keohane is only a year into a five-year, $1.5 billion capital campaign.

Another logical place to look would be the Seven Sisters, a group of once all-female colleges in the Northeast, including Radcliffe.

Wellesley College President Diana Chapman Walsh heads what is arguably the best-respected women's college in the country.

But, Walsh says, "I'm very happy where I am."