Geller says the explanation she receives from colleagues regarding her lack of titles is that she gets too "angry" to be an effective administrator.

"Like men don't get angry," Geller says.

She says she has stopped attending faculty meetings since the offer of the chair was made, saying it was too "painful."

Geller currently receives a salary from the Smithsonian tied to the civil service pay scale. Harvard pays her an additional quarter of a professorial salary, bringing her income to roughly that of a tenured professor. However, Harvard's salary is contingent on her continued employment by the Smithsonian.

Geller says she is deeply bothered by the fact that the University has no commitment to her, while she is expected to have a commitment to the University.

"It's a matter of the heart... I take teaching at Harvard very seriously and supervision of my students very seriously," she says. "Harvard should have a bona fide commitment to me."

As a junior faculty member, Geller spoke often as a part of Harvard's capital campaign. In January of 1995, Dean Knowles wrote Geller a letter thanking her for her "many uplifting [capital] campaign appearances...You continue to rivet the interest of our alumni (and our colleagues!)."

After the offer of the tenure-less chair, however, Geller stopped speaking on behalf of Harvard.