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Now & Then: The Selection of Rudenstine's Successor Bears Many Similarities to the Pusey Search

The deadline to select a new University president was fast approaching.

The nation had just chosen its own new president. There were many vacancies in top positions at other Ivy League Schools. And at Harvard, the provost was one of the leading candidates in the selection process.

This isn't the presidential search of today in which a select committee will pick Neil L. Rudenstine's successor. It is instead the search of 1953--James B. Conant '13 was preparing to step down and Nathan M. Pusey was standing in the wings.

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Since then several generations of Harvard students have entered through Johnston gate, women have moved to the Yard and three presidents have come and gone. But the similarities are striking.

The nation has just voted on a president. Several other prominent schools are picking their heads. And Provost Harvey V. Fineberg '67 is one of the leading contenders for Rudenstine's post.

A Sudden Resignation

Conant's vocal views on the draft, the atomic bomb and intervention in World War II made his name prevalent in American politics.

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