Thiemann, who is an ordained Lutheran minister, is currently on sabbatical from his position as O'Brian Professor of Divinity and is slated to return to teaching and research in 2000.

While previous heads of the Divinity School have held the title of Dean, Hehir will instead be called Chair of the Divinity School Executive Committee. Hehir said he and Rudenstine selected the title because Hehir will retain significant pastoral commitments and share administrative responsibilities.

"It's a commitment I feel I owe my own ecclesiastical community, so we designed the position so it made that possible," said Hehir, who will run the school with the help of a group of senior administrators and associate deans. "We don't want in any way to skimp on the amount of time and effort that it takes to do this job," Hehir said.

"This was a way for Harvard and Father Hehir to create an appropriate match to each other," added University spokesperson Joe Wrinn. "Given his responsibilities to the church, in order to take advantage of his talents we had to adjust the job and his responsibilities to fit his talents."

Hehir is a practicing priest at nearby St. Paul's church and at the Church of the Resurrection in Ellicott City, Md., and is also Professor of Practice in Religion and Society at the Divinity School.

And Hehir--who said there is "not much" difference between his responsibilities now and his responsibilities for the past five months--said his major goals include making appointments to the open spots on the Divinity School faculty and reviewing the curriculum.

"The school has a number of imminent concerns," he said. "There are a series of major appointments that need to be made in the faculty. Secondly, many people in the school have believed for a long time and I think rightly that we are in need of a curriculum review as we enter a new century."