Most undergraduates have never heard of the Society of Fellows. The group is not a secret, but their solitary research projects can keep them isolated from the rest of the University.

Fellows are not affiliated with any one graduate school or department--they are fond of quoting former society Chair Andrew Gleason's assertion that the Society is "freedom from Harvard at Harvard."

The group is a cross-disciplinary intellectual community, meant to give scholars who will one day lead their academic fields the time to think--and learn from each other .

Fellows are provided with a yearly stipend of $45,000 and are given access to all Harvard facilities--from the fabled Widener Library to a seat in any Harvard class. In return, they do advanced study in their area of interest.

"The really great thing about it is that it gives you the freedom to work on what you want to work on, Feldman says. "You can take a few chances."

Approximately 24 junior fellows and 10 senior fellows comprise the society yearly, with areas of expertise ranging from theoretical high energy physics to British imperial history.

Junior fellows are not called junior for nothing. Many have just completed doctorates, but others are still in the midst of studying for theirs.

Likewise, senior fellows are not are among the prestigious scholars at Harvard. Among the current crop are the society's Chair and Loeb University Professor Walter Gilbert, Reisinger Professor of Slavic Languages and Literature (not to mention Dean of Undergraduate Education) William M. Todd III and Pellegrino University Professor Robert Nozick.